Seth Johnson
The Gainesville City Commission heard updates from the police department and on the Florida Legislature’s ongoing session at Thursday’s regular meeting while also voting to codify its evaluation process for charter officers.
The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) gives quarterly updates on crime statistics and department initiatives. This report was for the final quarter of 2023 along with some annual totals.
Total violent crimes, including homicides, robbery, aggravated assault and rape, increased 4% in 2023 compared with the previous year—from 962 incidents to 1,004—but remained 50 incidents below the totals from 2021. Property crimes saw a larger jump, mainly because of a 43% increase in burglaries from 2022 to 2023.
Homicides also increased with 14 incidents and 16 victims. Assistant Chief Nelson Moya said that two of those victims were considered justifiable homicides, but recording procedure requires the incidents be added to overall totals.
Homicides have ticked up each year since 2020, from 8 to 10 to 11 and then 14.
The number of shots fired incidents dropped from 170 in 2022 to 147 in 2023. But between those years, the number of persons shot or injured by gunfire increased from 39 to 56—excluding accidents.
GPD has also continued sounding the alarm on the trend of stolen firearms being taken from vehicles, known as conveyance theft. Law enforcement has warned about this type of theft for several years.
Even as the number of overall stolen firearms went down in the past two years—from 218 to 200—more of those guns were taken in conveyance thefts—from 115 up to 129.
Also on Thursday’s agenda, the commissioners heard an update on the Florida Legislative session currently underway.
Mayor Harvey Ward asked its state Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, had seen any success with her bill that aims to crack down on conveyance thefts of firearms.
Thomas Harrington, legislative affairs coordinator, said the bill had not moved forward.
“That’s a shame. That’s a good bill,” Ward said.
Harrington also discussed other bills concerning housing, mobility and police advisory councils. Most of the bills remain in committees, and the bills ranged from favorable to disagreeable in the eyes of the Florida League of Cities which Gainesville belongs to.
Commissioner Casey Willits added an item to Thursday’s agenda about Senate Bill 601.
The bill prevents cities from creating police advisory councils with certain oversights of the actual police force. City Attorney Dan Nee said the city of Gainesville’s police advisory council—one of 21 in the state—would not be impacted by the current language of the bill.
Willits said that the language could change in the coming weeks.
“I understand that we may not be completely impacted by this bill, perhaps, but I feel like this is an attack on the idea of some sort of oversight,” Willits said. “It’s definitely a preemption. It’s further limiting us, and there are reasons why [police advisory boards] actually improve communities and can even improve police forces even though it may be uncomfortable.”
He asked the other commissioners to consider a resolution that would declare Gainesville’s opposition to a bill and in support of the work of police advisory councils.
Commissioner Ed Book asked about the Florida League of Cities position on the bill. Harrington said the league has opposed the bill but added that he doesn’t think it’s a top priority.
Book also asked if any other cities had passed a resolution. Willits said he wasn’t aware of one, and Book said he’d rather stick behind the banner of the league.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut agreed.
“I would prefer it if the city of Gainesville not stand out there alone,” Chestnut said. “We stand with the League of Cities, but also express to them our concern that they elevate this as a priority.”
Willits’ resolution was supported by Commissioner Bryan Eastman but opposed by the rest of the City Commission—ending in a 5-2 vote in opposition.
Another resolution, proposed by Ward and motioned by Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker, codifies dates surrounding charter evaluations.
“We’ve done it a different way each year that I’ve been here and that probably shouldn’t be the case,” Ward said of the evaluations.
The motion gives charter officers a deadline of Oct. 31 each year to submit their accomplishments and projects from the past fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. The city commissioners then have until Nov. 30 to submit their individual evaluations.
Those evaluations would then come before the City Commission at the first regular meeting in January for discussion.
Duncan-Walker added that it would be helpful to have different evaluation forms per charter officer to adapt to the specific functions each role performs. The motions asked human resources staff to bring back options and guidelines for more tailored evaluations.
The motion passed unanimously.
Gainesville ‘s Mayors and City Commision lack of common sense leadership has consequences. Voting and not voting has consequences. Go Woke , Go Broke and facilitate crime with open containers, lack of stiff punishment is their claim to fame,
“The percentage change for homicide between 2022 and 2023 has now increased to 27.27%,” Moya said. There were 14 homicides in 2023 and 11 in 2022. According to police, killings in Gainesville have increased steadily since 2020, with homicide deaths rising by 75% over the last four years.
In a nutshell why Gainesville elected government is the poster child for how to destroy a downtown