For two decades, no matter who’s been in charge, Jacksonville’s sheriff has been embattled with trying to overcome the city’s reputation as “the murder capital of Florida.” They’ve stood at podiums in front of TV cameras addressing the violence year after year — 162 homicides, 177, 129, 168 and 157, and that’s just in the last five years, according to unofficial Times-Union data.
Well, this year’s different. At the halfway mark of 2024, the city is unofficially at 46 homicides — a 31% decrease from the 67 at the same time last year. So Jacksonville is on pace to have fewer than 100 homicides for only the third time in the 21 years since the Times-Union has chronicled the city’s death toll .
The last time was 2011 when the city recorded 86 homicides . At this point in 2011 the city also had the same number of homicides at 46, according to Times-Union records.
In a 30-minute interview a few days prior to the midway point, Sheriff T.K. Waters asked his own question: “Why is the media so bent on ruining the reputation of Jacksonville by calling Jacksonville the most violent city or the murder capital of Florida? Because it’s not,” he said citing other areas. “… Jacksonville is a really great place and a really great city. The perception that’s being presented is problematic … it’s almost a celebration when we reach 100 homicides. It’s crazy to me.”