JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor-elect Donna Deegan’s new executive team includes a new position, Chief of Public Safety, and has tapped Sheriff TK Waters’ former political rival to fill the role.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <
Lakesha Burton will serve as the city’s first public safety chief in the incoming Deegan administration.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Burton faced Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters in a special election last year.
UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder said his selection for the new role could be considered controversial.
“This can be seen as, I beat this person, I’m the sheriff and now you’re naming them over me? And that could be taken the wrong way,” Binder said.
Read: Community activists hope Mayor-elect Deegan will remove Jacksonville’s last Confederate monument
In a statement issued earlier this week, Sheriff TK Waters indicated that he plans to assign a liaison to work directly with Burton.
A JSO spokesman reiterated the sheriff’s constitutional authority in a statement issued Friday.
“The sheriff was constitutionally elected to serve as the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in Duval County. With powers derived from state and local law, he is solely responsible for law enforcement and public safety in Jacksonville,” the JSO spokesman said. “The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office always welcomes civilian participation in promoting public safety.”
When we asked Deegan about the role he envisioned Burton playing earlier this week, he stated that the new Chief of Public Safety would focus on the city’s public safety initiatives.
Read: Mayor-elect Donna Deegan announces grand opening plans
“These prevention initiatives, intervention, community building, literacy. All those things that were involved in the Jacksonville trip to make sure we’re creating the stairs in that regard for public safety as the sheriff does enforcement,” Deegan said Wednesday.
And while Deegan said he will continue his one-on-one relationship with the sheriff, Waters and Burton will likely have to work together to some extent.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“In order for city government to be successful, they have to be able to be civil with each other because they’re going to cross paths and it’s optimal if they have a working relationship, whatever the dynamic ends up being,” Binder said.
