Sheriff T.K. Waters discusses the Model Citieis Intiative while U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials listen Friday, Nov. 11, 2026. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 6, 2026 at 4:50 pm
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Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters got a big gift from the Department of Justice on Friday — $73 million from the nationwide Model Cities Initiative to start new programs to battle crime.
Jacksonville is one of four communities chosen for a total of $300 million. Seventy-four communities applied.
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Waters joined U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials Friday to discuss the initiative’s local goals and accept a ceremonial check. The sheriff called the money a generational investment in the community.
The federal funding will be used to work with other local agencies, city government and community partners to lower a crime rate that includes what he says should be a second year’s drop in murders.
The work will include adopting advanced policing and training programs, expanding forensic capabilities and adding more aerial drones to continue the recent drop in homicides and violent crime, along with other proposed additions, Waters said.
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“We will create 40 new sworn officer positions so we can have a larger law enforcement footprint in a city that’s growing in population year over year,” Waters said.
The department also will augment its RealTime Crime Center to make tactical decisions based on the most current data and information, he said.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson said, “It’s an investment in a city that’s shown a decline in violent crime and hopefully an investment in even a safer Jacksonville.”
The Sheriff’s Department asked for four targeted assistant state attorney positions, she said. “If that comes to fruition, that would be excellent. We would be able to build out that unit that is already doing excellent work.”
The Justice Department announced the Model Cities Initiative in June to build on earlier programs in Memphis and Washington, D.C., to reduce violence, crime and disorder.
The other communities receiving money are East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and St. Louis.
Blanche said the initiative will build on recent decreases in nonfatal violent crime, which declined 25% nationwide from 2024 to 2025. He told an audience of lawmakers, police and prosecutors that the money is “an infusion of cash to be used wherever Jacksonville needs it” to bring crime rates down.
“We are not coming in and saying this is a disaster we are here to clean up. The city has been doing a great job for several years,” Blanche said. “Your sheriff, your prosecutors — we have been watching a very historic violent crime rate come sliding down. So if you are a citizen in this city and demanding results from the money, I would expect us to see those results to continue going down.”
The sheriff said the money will go to programs that his and other law enforcement agencies “have always needed but did not want to ask our cty and our taxpayers to pay for.”
“Fortunately, the federal government saw the need,” Waters told Jacksonville Today. “We were able to explain to them what we needed and why we needed it, and they were able to award it to us, so that’s very good.”
Asked whether any of the money would make up for revenue lost through the Amendment 3 tax cut, Waters said no.
“The money here is extra money for things that we need that we don’t have to ask taxpayers for,” Waters said. “We will have to see how (Amendment 3) plays out — that’s the mayor and City Council, and we will do our part to make sure that we make ends meet so we don’t overburden the taxpayers.”
Edwin Cayenne, the Sheriff’s Office’s director of investigations and homeland security, spoke about the Model Cities Initiative on Thursday on First Coast Connect on WJCT News 89.9.
