A powerful interview of Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff TK Waters is making the rounds.
Waters joined Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade to discuss his approach to addressing crime in the city as well as his recent election as a Republican in Duval County.
Kilmeade: As a Republican to win in the inner-city, it doesn’t happen that much. Why do you think you won in November?
Waters: I think people realize and recognize the experience, recognize I’m an old school policeman. I believe in law enforcement. I believe in taking care of our people…and I think that’s a big reason. And that message resonated with people.
Kilmeade: But what got you in law enforcement to begin with? Was it always your goal to be a sheriff?
Waters: I started, I’m a military kid. My dad was in the Army for 32 years, retired Command Sergeant Major, my plan was to join the military. I lost a cousin in 1990 to murder and when that happened, I decided I was going to become a policeman.
Kilmeade: So now, you took on the tough job of Jacksonville.
Waters: Yes.
Kilmeade: So as you look at your main obstacle, the stats say it’s gang activity. How do you attack it?
Waters: So we built a program in Jacksonville called our Violence Reduction Strategy or program. And what we’ve done is we’ve created an outreach and support piece and an enforcement piece. And it’s targeted.
Its focus is mainly on the young men in our community that commit violent crime and we track them, we watch their activity, we watch it realtime. We watch on social media. We do several different things to do to try to stop that and curtail that.
Kilmeade: I live in a city, New York City, where you have a DA that thinks criminal first. The quick thing is how do we get these criminals back out on the street or leave them there forever. Do you have support here from prosecutors and District Attorneys?
Waters: Melissa Nelson is our elected State Attorney. She’s amazing. Part of that program, I’ll tell you, she actually created what we call our Targeted Prosecution Unit. And the same individuals that we’re looking at on a day-to-day basis, that we track on a day-to-day basis, she has attorneys assigned to that unit to help us make connections with those guys.
Kilmeade: So you believe you’re backed. What makes you Republican?
Waters: Just my core belief system. I don’t believe that, one: I don’t need someone to help me do anything. I mean I think that with a drive and education, I’m capable of accomplishing anything. I believe in law and order. I believe in fiscal conservatism…I believe in African Americans being able to accomplish anything in America and I don’t follow the line that we’re not able to accomplish anything without help.
Kilmeade: When you look at Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, they tend to be conservatives. Has that been lost when people start talking about what’s happening right now in America?
Waters: I think that it has… I think if you look ….look, I was just elected sheriff… elected sheriff …in Duval County, Florida the Southeast. For anyone to say that it’s not possible for us to obtain and achieve, it’s ludicrous.
Kilmeade: So this is Black History Month.
Waters: Yes.
Kilmeade: What should America know about the state of race relations today according to Sheriff Waters?
Waters: I think there are pockets where there are issues.I think racism is…it’s here, it’s real.… I wouldn’t deny that.
But it’s not a determining factor about who we are as a community, as a nation. I think, overall, we’re in a really good position. I think, if you really look at it, the fact that I’m elected is proof positive we can do anything. And our nation is in a good place.
