Jacksonville, FL Sherrif's Office May Layoff Thirty-four More: Sheriff Claims Privatizing Fleet Service Could Save Jobs

Sheriff John Rutherford said on October 5 he is trying to manage his budget as the City Council and mayor have asked him to do, but without changes, thirty-four more officers could be laid off in March.

Rutherford said he met with every one of the 129 people he had to lay off this week. The latest round of cuts included twenty-nine civilian jobs and forty-eight police officers. "Our core competency is public safety. We have adjusted organizationally and I am confident that emergency police services will not be impacted by these cuts," Rutherford said.

"However, citizens may experience a somewhat slower response time to non-emergency calls for service," he said, adding that the latest round of cuts "was in addition to the $7.5 million in cuts that I made to my budget before I presented it to the mayor."

Rutherford identified fleet management as an area where he could save money in his budget. This move would cover the $1.2 million in additional cuts ordered by Council and is currently hanging over the sheriff’s office. "I told (the) City to take that out of my fleet maintenance because my intention is to privatize my fleet services, including my gas and my repairs, which is going to save me somewhere north of $1.5 million," said Rutherford. "If I’m not allowed to do that, there’s an additional thirty-four officers that will be laid off in March."

City Council President Stephen Joost has been examining the City’s fleet services and is more comfortable with keeping the sheriff’s special vehicle fleet under the service of the city department.

"The SWAT team has this, basically, armored personnel carrier and you just can’t drive down to AAMCO with that and get the transmission serviced," said Joost. "I agree with him, we have to look at that, but we also have to look at who is left to take care of the specialty equipment."

Both Rutherford and Joost said that neither side wants to jeopardize the safety of the community while considering budget cuts.

"We are going to look at all the options and that’s the last thing we want to do, lay off police officers. But we have to live within our budget," said Joost.

"Our commitment to protect and serve the citizens of Jacksonville is inviolate. No matter how much we must change our operations, service to our citizens remains our top priority," said Rutherford.

NAFA Fleet Management Association
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Telephone: 609.720.0882 Fax: 609.452.8004