JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters is reacting to new stats obtained by Action News Jax. They reveal black drivers are disproportionately ticketed by JSO for having their headlights off in bad weather.
That traffic citation is one of the reasons behind William McNeil Jr.’s controversial arrest. He is the man hit by a JSO officer during a viral traffic stop in February.
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The Sheriff said he rejects any suggestion the agency targets black residents.
“I am not playing the race game,” said Waters. “This is not about race. It never is and it never has been.”
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Since 2021, black drivers made up 62% of the 79 people ticketed by the agency for driving without headlights on in poor weather. That is according to stats Action News Jax reviewed from the Duval Clerk of Courts.
Black residents account for just about 30 percent of the county’s overall population.
During that same time frame, black drivers made up just 37.5% of the eight citations issued by other police agencies in the county. However, a legal expert suggested it could be difficult to draw conclusions from such a small sample size.
“I will say that sometimes there is going to be a larger group of people that get citations for speeding than another group of people,” said Waters. “You can do that with just about any citation set.”
JSO has repeatedly highlighted the tens of thousands of traffic stops conducted by the agency each year that go without incident.
Sheriff T.K. Waters has also pointed the finger at McNeil for escalating the situation by refusing to get out of the car when told to do so by officers.
Attorneys representing McNeil have repeatedly argued racial bias played a role in his traffic stop, but the Sheriff said that is not the case.
“We don’t deal with people based on what they look like,” said Waters. “We deal with people based off the violations they commit.”
We also looked into the latest number of bias-based profiling complaints.
According to JSO’s 2024 open data report, there were 8 of those complaints and none were sustained.
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