Community members show out to support Jacksonville and St. Johns law enforcement in Ponte Vedra

Some local law enforcement appreciation in St. Johns County Saturday morning, as community members showed out to Ponte Vedra with flags waving to show their support for the boys in blue, who keep the community safe every day.

“A lot of times people take them for granted, and they don’t appreciate until they need them,” event organizer Greg Keller said. “It’s nice to tell [them], thank you. We don’t need you right now, but we appreciate everything you do.”

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Plenty showed out Saturday morning showing their support for both the St. Johns County and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Offices, with both Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick in attendance, bringing the two agencies together.

Sheriff T.K. Waters outlined how events like these, displaying the community’s appreciation for all their deputies do, can even help with recruitment, something that’s been an uphill battle for JSO in the past.

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“I think it leads hugely to us being able to, you know, bring people in the agency from all over the place. I’m talking from up north from Pennsylvania, New York City, wherever. I mean, wherever we can get them,” Sheriff Waters said. “They’re coming because they know this is a great place to live. The people in these communities support us tremendously.”

Sheriff Waters and Sheriff Hardwick also outlined how it doesn’t just build relationships between the community and law enforcement, but between the departments themselves, aiding and crime-fighting efforts across county lines.

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“Last night, I called [Sheriff Waters] and said thank you for the partnership. As we were tracking a gang member out of St Johns County into Duval that had committed a lot of crime, but it was again, there’s no borders,” Sheriff Hardwick explained. “We got a job to do.”

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