Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Picked as One of Four Agencies Nationwide for DOJ's Nearly $300 Million Model Cities Initiative

The U.S. Department of Justice has picked the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as one of four law enforcement agencies in the country to take part in its new Model Cities Initiative. Jacksonville will share in nearly $300 million in federal money meant to cut violent crime. The department announced the awards on Oct. 30. The other recipients are East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana, the City of Jackson in Mississippi and the St. Louis Police Department in Missouri. Jacksonville is the only Florida city selected. How much it will receive, and exactly what the money will buy, have not yet been announced.

What was announced

In its Oct. 30 release, the Justice Department said the four jurisdictions were chosen on the strength of applications it called innovative and forward-thinking. It said each city faces different challenges and has different resources, but all share a determination to reduce violent crime. The department will work with each jurisdiction to finalize and carry out its public safety plan.

"The Model Cities Initiative reflects the Trump Administration's commitment to reducing crime across the country," Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the release. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. pointed to national figures showing nonfatal violent crime declining 25 percent from 2024 to 2025.

Blanche plans to visit all four jurisdictions next month to present the awards and meet with local officials and community partners, according to the department.

The recipients named by the Justice Department are below.

What the money can pay for

The Justice Department said the awards will support hiring sworn and non-sworn staff for enforcement, prosecution and related work. They will also pay for new technology, equipment purchases and leases, expanded forensic capabilities, and mental health and substance use services meant to reduce repeat offending.

When it first announced the program on June 3, 2026, the department described it as a "whole-of-city" effort. It listed a broader set of allowable uses: hiring and keeping officers and civilian staff; equipment and technology such as real-time crime centers, body-worn cameras and license plate readers; training in intelligence-led policing and violent crime investigations; reentry and recidivism programs; victim services; and youth crime prevention and gang intervention.

For Jacksonville specifically, the sheriff's office said the money will help it advance proven policing strategies, expand forensic capabilities, deploy new crime-fighting technology and grow investments it says are already working. The office said it will work with federal partners over several years. It added that the expanded resources will also help it support partner law enforcement agencies across Northeast Florida.

The sheriff's office said specific investment amounts and project timelines will be announced in the coming weeks, together with the Justice Department, Action News Jax reported.

How the cities were chosen

The initiative was open to local governments serving at least 100,000 people, according to the June announcement. Each city had to submit a single joint application led by local leaders, such as the mayor, sheriff and county prosecutor. The application had to lay out a strategic plan for spreading the money across law enforcement, victim services, detention and reentry, and prevention. Proposals were due Sept. 1. The department said at the time that it would choose two to four cities through a multi-phase competition.

The department said the program builds on early results from federal crime efforts in Memphis, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. Blanche, then the acting attorney general, said in June that the administration was "leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans."

Sheriff Waters: a "generational investment"

Sheriff T.K. Waters called the selection "a tremendous honor for Jacksonville and a testament to the progress we have made together in public safety."

"This generational investment will allow us to build on our success, strengthen our investigative capabilities, and give our men and women the technology and resources they need to stay a step ahead of criminals. Together, we are committed to making Jacksonville one of the safest cities in America," Waters said in a statement posted by the sheriff's office.

Waters also thanked the Justice Department "for standing shoulder to shoulder with us." The sheriff's office said Jacksonville has seen an unprecedented decline in violent crime and homicides under Waters. It credited a data-driven approach that combines proactive enforcement, intervention, technology, partnerships and community engagement.

The crime picture in Jacksonville

Jacksonville's homicide numbers have moved up and down in recent years. After a historic drop to 82 homicides in 2024, the count rose back above 100 in 2025, News4JAX reported in January, including 11 fatal police shootings. Of the 110 total homicides counted in 2025, 79 were classified as murders. Another 12 were ruled justifiable, and eight had not been classified, according to the station's review of sheriff's office data. As of early December, JSO said only one of the year's homicides was considered gang or group related: the January 2025 shooting death of 7-year-old Breon Allen Jr.

Of the 79 murder cases reported in 2025, 44 had been cleared when News4JAX published its review, meaning an arrest had been made or the death was a murder-suicide. Clearance rates and forensic capacity are among the areas the federal money is meant to strengthen.

What it means for Northeast Florida

The city's share of the nearly $300 million is not yet known. Because the sheriff's office says the money will also support partner agencies across the region, departments in surrounding counties could benefit from expanded forensic and investigative capacity in Jacksonville.

The selection also puts the city's crime-fighting strategy on display as a national test case. The Justice Department has said it wants the program to produce measurable crime reductions that other cities can copy, and the sheriff's office said it is proud to serve as a national model for effective public safety strategies.

What's next

Blanche and other Justice Department officials are expected to visit Jacksonville and the other three cities next month to present the awards. The sheriff's office and the Justice Department have said they will announce Jacksonville's specific funding amount and project timelines in the coming weeks. After that, the Justice Department will work with the sheriff's office to finalize the city's public safety plan before the money begins to flow.