Local Alachua County immigration activists said President-elect Joe Biden’s victory provided a sigh of relief.
The feeling was prompted by Biden’s push to decrease the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in combination with his promised 100-day deportation moratorium.
Locally, Clovis Watson Jr. is the unopposed Sheriff-elect. He pledges to police in a community-oriented manner, according to an opinion piece that the Gainesville Sun published. But, unlike many newly elected sheriffs across the country, Watson Jr. has not announced an intention to limit his agency’s cooperation with ICE.
In Georgia, Keybo Taylor is the sheriff-elect of Gwinnett County, where he pledged to end a program that allows officers to screen inmates for their immigration status. In nearby Cobb County, Sheriff-Elect Craig Owens promised to end his office’s agreement with ICE as well.
In 2010 Gainesville Police Officer Timothy Durst released his dog Grady on 10-year-old Bryce Bates after spotting him riding his bike.
Durst was responding to a burglary-in-progress call that turned out to be false. Bryce saw the police car coming toward him, jumped off his bike and ran for home. Grady caught the boy at his front door, biting and scratching him.
Residents of all racial backgrounds quietly spoke with GPD Chief Tony Jones about the incident, but a public outcry was never raised.
Now, a decade later, the reaction would likely be different if a similar incident happened.
In the aftermath of 2020’s high profile deaths of Black people, at the hands and knees of police, a drive is on for law enforcement to reform policies on chokeholds, no-knock warrants and other procedures.
A county ordinance exists that prohibits pedestrians from being in the same space as vehicles for safety reasons, which includes anyone from a jaywalker to panhandlers standing in the median.
The county attorney’s office said that while the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office has the ability to prosecute for violations of the 3-year-old ordinance, no cases have ever been fully prosecuted.
County Attorney Sylvia Torres said sheriff’s deputies in most cases direct the pedestrians in violation to another area.
The ordinance is not enforceable within the Gainesville city limits.
City commissioners voted to have the manager’s office bring them options for enforcement of different laws involving pedestrian safety. Commissioners David Arreola and Gigi Simmons were absent during the vote.
Black and minority youths are overrepresented in the Alachua County juvenile justice system rizaguirre.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rizaguirre.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gainesville man charged with sexual battery
Kody Mark Wilson, 23, is charged with one count of sexual battery in the Thursday morning incident.
According to an arrest report from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Wilson and the woman were in a Southwest Gainesville home when she fell asleep. The woman told deputies that in the middle of the night, she woke up to Wilson sexually battering her, until she rolled over.
The report states Wilson admitted to some parts of the battery and said the woman never told him to stop.
Wilson was booked in the Alachua County Jail, with bail set at $80,000.