There is nothing more American than the police state.

It’s right up there with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, suspicious decisions in pro sports that affect the moneyline, and celebrating Christmas while the kids are still gobbling through the Halloween candy haul. 

And the only thing more American than the police state is not wanting to look at it.

The U.S. has had for decades the most robust carceral-industrial complex among the world’s major powers. 

While it’s true we do export some of our overflow to El Salvador, and to GTMO in Cuba also, as of early this year we had more prisoners than China. This leaves out people on probation and early release as well as those who are paying onerous fines, and let’s not forget those whose criminal history renders them largely unemployable.  

Jacksonville presents little exception to the rule. On what passes for our local political spectrum, there is little sustained enthusiasm for unwinding the police state or allowing putatively reformed convicts an early second chance. 

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And apparently there’s even less enthusiasm for being next door to the jail.

Long before we figure out what the actual budget for the facility will be, much less how we pay for it, Democrats are rallying behind a Jimmy Peluso proposal to keep what could be a 500-acre structure out of historically redlined neighborhoods, such as Moncrief, the Eastside, Robinson’s Addition, Mixon Town, New Town, Durkeeville, Longbranch and Philips. 

The current jail, of course, falls between Downtown and the Stadium Complex, and is there for practical reasons. The bail bonds offices, the court, the police apparatus, all nearby. 

All of that was conceived in and for a time when massive capital wasn’t pouring into the stadium and areas around it in an effort to parlay eight NFL games a year into a sustainable live-work-play destination. 

The jail property is worth more than when it abutted the polluted Shipyards. And along with that, there is the question of optics – do tourists want to consider the criminal element on their way to and from various entertainment options? Or the Four Seasons?

Considering that and the deplorable state of the Duval County Jail, it’s clear a new facility was needed a decade ago.  

Now the question is where to put it.

Or where not to. 

An equity question lingers over putting the new facility in one of those areas that was historically and deliberately disadvantaged, to be sure. 

But where can the jail be to make it convenient to the Duval County Courthouse, the Sheriff’s Office, lawyers and bail bondsmen?

There is plenty of undeveloped land out SR-228 toward Highway 301, for example. But that location and other remote areas in the county create what the old heads called unintended consequences, complicating business for professionals and making it harder for family to get to the jail.

The paradox for those with equity concerns is that while no one wants to look at a jail, onerous burdens are created when the facility is far away from population centers. We accept that with state and federal lockups, but when it comes to short-term occupancy in the local equivalent, it’s got to be a different matter.

The reflexive answer is to put the jail near a new construction neighborhood, perhaps, but that too creates burdens for the city. Suppose you bought your 4/3 in a recently built subdivision, but instead of the Chick-Fil-A and Target you were counting on to be erected nearby, you get the jail instead.

Good luck with resale. 

It’s possible to imagine the jail being put on the location of a dead mall, of course. The former Regency Square is likely big enough to handle it, if the jail was built to tower over the city. City Chief Administrative Officer Mike Weinstein says 500 acres are needed, but that can be compressed if the build goes vertical.

Leaving aside the problems that would create for what was once a thriving commercial area, there would be a certain irony in people being compelled to look at it every time they passed by one of the busiest intersections in the city.

Everyone agrees we need a new jail, but where should it go? For a political class that is historically averse to tackling real problems, this will be a doozy to resolve.