By Sheriff David Shoar
I am excited to announce the formation of the Sheriff’s Advisory Council here at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. This is just one way that the public can work closely with me and other members of the Sheriff’s Office to promote the essential partnership between the Sheriff’s Office and our local communities. The councils, called ShAdCo’s, will serve as information exchanges between citizens and the Sheriff’s Office. Regularly scheduled meetings offer citizens an opportunity to communicate directly with the command staff of your Sheriff’s Office and deputies on issues of importance to their own communities. This council will provide an opportunity for developing mutual understanding and encourages community participation in the development of Sheriff’s office programs as well as policy. Such a program will not only demonstrate a full accountability to the residents of our county it will also serve to reduce the fear of crime in our communities.
St. Johns County is more than 600 square miles and presents extremely diverse problems affecting different areas of the county. We seek to form several advisory councils, in the different areas of the county, to address specific problems and find solutions to those areas. The volunteers would work closely with the Sheriff’s Office and participate in monthly meetings. They will receive information concerning the latest efforts of our office and provide feedback and advice on how the agency can improve the delivery of services to their neighborhoods.
I would like to form advisory councils in the four quadrants of St. Johns County: Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast. This is in addition to the Executive Council which will include citizens from each of those four districts. Any resident of St. Johns County that is over the age of 18 is encouraged to apply to be a member of the Sheriff’s Advisory Council. You may do so by contacting Lt. Dan Chitwood, Commander of the Planning and Research Division at (904) 824-8304, or by email at dchitwood@sjso.org
I would also like to remind our residents that there are several ways you can reach me. In addition to contacting me by phone or appointment at the Sheriff’s Office, you can reach me by e-mail at dshoar@sjso.org. And for additional information on the many programs we offer at the Sheriff’s Office, please go by our website at www.sjso.org
I look forward to your input.
