December 2024

Welcome to the "News You Can Use" Newsletter. Each month, we will share our newsletter detailing our agency's efforts, staffing levels, major cases, important dates, member highlights, and general news you can use regarding law enforcement in Jacksonville Beach. 

There are currently six officers in field training, and three more officers will be hired in mid-January. The officers hired in the past few months are all experienced and are easily completing training, many earlier than scheduled. The Police Department also continued to receive applications from quality candidates.

Due to our recruiting and hiring successes, all of the Police Department specialty units, except Downtown CAPE, have been fully re-staffed. We anticipate Downtown CAPE will be filled with all 11 officers by March 1.

The Police Department successfully completed its one-year accreditation cycle where the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., reviewed one-third of our compliance files and conducted employee interviews. Once again, we received glowing feedback for our efforts, and Accreditation Manager Lorie Lavender made a tedious and difficult process look easy.

The Police Department had another successful year working with San Pablo Elementary for the “Stuff the Stocking” event for underprivileged students. We are honored to continue our participation in this event.

The department and the CPAAA held the annual Kids’ Christmas Party at City Hall. As always, the popular event was a huge success.  Special thanks to all of our volunteers for their hard work, and to Ms. Sandra Prince and her husband, Dean, for acting as Mr. and Mrs. Claus once again!

The Police Department is well into its education campaign regarding e-bikes/bicycles, low-speed vehicles, and pedestrian rules and safety. We began light enforcement of the laws pertaining to these issues. These efforts will continue through March. Download the safety trifold informational flyer by clicking here.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS

They may not have superpowers, but they have a big heart and a stop sign, making them the guardians of our little ones at the crosswalk! We were thankful to get to celebrate our crossing guards at the annual School Crossing Guard Luncheon last week!

25 YEARS! What an accomplishment!!!

At the 2024 Crossing Guard luncheon held last week, Benny Shettlesworth, known to many as Mr. Bennny from Seabreeze Elementary, was recognized for TWENTY-FIVE years of service with the Jacksonville Beach Police Department as a School Crossing Guard!

We are continuing our enforcement in the areas of criminal transient quality-of-life crimes such as sleeping/camping in public, drinking in public, panhandling, trespassing, and petit theft. We are also addressing unleashed dogs on the beach and loud mufflers on cars. These enforcement efforts will continue until March, 2025. Then, we will focus all of our efforts for six weeks in March and April in conducting aggressive enforcement targeting illegal guns, illegal drugs, and criminal gang members visiting our city.  We have used this strategy of “setting the tone” for the summer months with great success in the past. 

On May 27, 2024, there was a shooting in the Jacksonville Beach Central Business District. The Police Department is asking for your assistance in helping identify this individual who is a person of interest.

If you have any information in regards to this person’s identity, please contact Detective B. Burrell at bburrell@jaxbchfl.net or 904-270-1674. You can also reach us through the communications center at 904-270-1661. Dial 9-1-1 for emergencies.

Read our combined monthly report to see what our agency has been up to!

When you head to the beach, keep our beach rules in mind!

• No drinking alcoholic beverages in public.
• No nudity is allowed.
• No possession of controlled substances.
• No glass bottles or containers on the beach.
• No throwing debris on the beach or into the ocean.
• No walking, sitting, or standing on the sand dunes.
• No grills on the beach.
• No public intoxication or endangerment of the safety of another person or property.

You can read our complete list of rules by clicking here.

Jacksonville Beach Police Department is hiring! Contact our recruiter, Detective Ford, for more information. You can also find more information on our webpage by clicking Join JBPD.

If you want to work for a city that places a priority on public safety, has an Administration that values every employee, a city council, command staff and citizens who fully support our first responders, come work for us!

Check out our recruiting video here!

Click Career Opportunities to view job descriptions and apply today!

Paid parking has ended for the season. It will resume again in Spring 2025.

We are currently evaluating the feasibility of adding more paid parking spaces south of Beach Boulevard (on a few avenues) and raising fees to park.

For complete information, including how to register for the Resident Parking Program, click here.

Current paid parking locations are the following:

• 14 1st Street North (Latham Plaza)
• 422 1st Street North
• 503 1st Street North (Pier)
• 450 2nd Street North
• 102 2nd Avenue North parking lot
• On-street parking in the 600 block of 6th Avenue North
• On-street parking in the 6th Avenue North street-end

From October 1 through March 31, dogs are allowed on the beach at any time.

Year-round rules:

• Dogs must be on a leash 8 feet or shorter
• Dogs must wear proof of valid rabies vaccination
• Dog waste must be picked up and disposed of
• Dogs are not allowed on the sand dunes at any time

Dogs in the Atlantic Ocean within the owner's voice and visual contact are allowed to swim unleashed and then immediately put back on the leash before returning to the beach.  This does not include walking the dog in the water or fetching. 

Violations may result in a fine of $55 per City Ordinance 5-41.  

Bicycle DNA registration stickers are available Monday - Friday from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. Protect your bicycle with a bicycle DNA sticker today! You do not need to bring your bicycle. We will give you everything needed to register your bike.

Did you know you can submit concerns of drug activity in our community directly through our website? If you see suspicious activity here at the beach, follow this link and let us know!

Jacksonville Beach Animal Control is responsible for responding to animal welfare checks, enforcing city animal ordinances, and patrolling the city for pet violations. We only service the city of Jacksonville Beach and will only handle domestic animal calls. We do not respond to issues involving wildlife, birds, or incidents that occur outside of the City of Jacksonville Beach. 

Animals in our care are taken to Jacksonville Beach Animal Control, where they are checked for tags and microchips before being placed in clean and comfortable kennels/cages during their stay. Pets that arrive sick or injured may be taken to a veterinary clinic for treatment. 

Animal Control hours of operation are 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily. 

How to reclaim your pet.

City Animal Ordinances

Paws Park Dog Park

FAQ Page

COJB Jobs

We believe that talented, customer service-driven employees are essential to fulfill the needs of our citizens. If you would like to be a member of our team, we encourage you to apply with us, see our current employment opportunities or sign up here to receive email notifications of new job postings.

Get Involved

Are you interested in making a difference and putting your skills and talents to work as a volunteer? Jacksonville Beach Police Department has an expansive volunteer program that starts with our Citizen Police Academy. For more information on how to be involved you can click here.

Live Streams

If you want to stay in the loop on developments in Jacksonville Beach, but are unable to attend or view a meeting live, The City streams and archives many public meetings to YouTube. Click here to view past meetings and live streams of upcoming meetings.

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