09/13/2026
Did you know that at this past Thursday’s City Commission Meeting, Commissioner WAYNE BLOODSWORTH made a motion to DISSOLVE (get rid of) YOUR High Springs Police Department?
The motion was seconded by COMMISSIONER TRISTAN GRUNDER!
The vote failed with Commissioner Katherine Weitz, Mayor Andrew Miller & Commissioner Chad Howell in dissent. For now.
However, it didn’t end there. Some of the others that were in dissent, were only in dissent because they said they wanted more information on numbers and costs if/ when they turn things over to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
The entire commission voted 🗳️ unanimously and asked the interim city manager Jennifer Applebee (whose just doing what she’s told) to start GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATIONS with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to see final costs on how much they’d charge to take over law enforcement services in High Springs.
This has already been done recently & the Sheriff’s Office advised that they would charge 1.4 MILLION dollars 💵 to place ONE Deputy in High Springs 24 hours a day. And 2.8 MILLION dollars 💵 if they wanted 2 Deputies.
Here’s the catch: Just like with the city of Newberry who’s contracted with ASO for law enforcement services. They pay for one deputy to patrol Newberry, however, the deputy is NOT required to stay in the city at all times. The deputy can & has the ability to go anywhere else in the entire county that they’re needed or that they choose to go to back up other ASO units. The same thing would happen to High Springs. Who knows when or where a deputy will ever be when you need them? Or where they’re coming from in the ENTIRE county?
Your HSPD currently has 20 Full Time police officers & a few reserve police officers. Is the city commission really and seriously considering throwing our HSPD officers away to pay for ONE deputy to be in the city SOMETIMES?
What’ll happen when the one deputy has an arrest and is tied up at the jail for two hours? You call for help and the next deputy is coming to you from Gainesville. 🤔 What’ll happen when the one deputy has a baker act & has to drive all the way to meridian on SW 13th street to process the paperwork and the city’s left unattended? The next deputy is coming to you from Gainesville during YOUR emergency. 🚨 You think they’ll send a deputy to stay in high springs until the next deputy comes back? They won’t.
Your HSPD is currently staffed that if multiple service calls go out at once or if officers are tied up on another service call and YOU need help, someone is coming to you.
Many more things will be covered in more upcoming posts. Stay tuned. Want to get involved? Stay tuned. Want to help save the HSPD? Stay tuned. Want to step up and speak up? Stay tuned.
As a citizen or business owner of high springs, what’s your thoughts on this? It should also be noted, that because Commissioner Bloodworth made the motion to dissolve the police department & didn’t say when or give a date or time, if they would’ve gotten a 3rd vote, it would’ve been affective immediately. Did the other 4 commissioners realize that? I wonder if they even thought of that? We were 🤏 close to losing law enforcement services and no other plan in place by the commission if they would’ve got the third vote. 🗳️
