JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over a four-year span, from 2021 until 2024, Jacksonville had a larger share of its homicides classified as justifiable killings by civilians than any other city or county with a population greater than 500,000, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.
More than 10% of homicides by civilians were considered justifiable in Duval County, according to the WSJ’s analysis, which is just ahead of other big cities like Charlotte, Indianapolis, Memphis and Detroit.
Gary Kleck, a professor emeritus of criminology at Florida State University, told the WSJ that the law “appears to give incentive for police and prosecutors to classify tough cases as justifiable homicides,” adding that justifiable homicides help reduce crime rates because they aren’t included in violent crime statistics…