TANGLEWOOD – The stretch of Jefferson Avenue starting at Blanding is home to decades-old residents and transient rental units colloquially referred to as ‘Tanglewood’ was inundated with cops Tuesday evening.

But residents sat outside stunned tha,t for the first time, it wasn’t due to neighborhood crime.

Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels made good on his campaign promises of ramped up community policing efforts Jan. 24 as he held the first of many planned neighborhood walks. Daniels follows in the legacy of former sheriffs Rick Beasler and Scott Lancaster, who performed neighborhood walks before him.

Daniels pressed palms with residents, joked and carried on small talk while residents made their way home from work. The mood remained jovial, but residents still knew the necessity of Daniels’ visit.

“I’ve been here 25 years – never had a break in never had anything, I don’t want to say it’s hood but there has definitely been hood people showing up,” said Joann Nimmons, who has lived off Jefferson Avenue for 25 years. “They come by, put trash in your yard, they don’t care.”

She corroborated the thoughts of other residents who say much of the problem comes from the rental units scattered around the neighborhood. Many of the people who move into the units bring other things with them, sometimes, including drugs.

With all the changes in the neighborhood, Nimmons said a sheriff’s department walk, which she has never seen in her 25 years on the block, is a welcome sight.

“It makes me feel good,” Nimmons said. “But if something was done I would feel better, but I was impressed that he thought enough to do it, but let’s see what’s going to happen.”

Daniels said the follow up is his next step, and that this is just the first of many walks throughout problem neighborhoods in the county.

“The walk is an opportunity to engage, but this walk is a teaser – there’s always a follow up component,” Daniels said. “This is chapter one or the first page, then there’s the enforcement side or follow up side to the things that have been brought to our attention... then express them in terms of the people ‘here’s what we found, here’s what we did, here’s what we will continue to do.’”

He said his decision to make Tanglewood his inaugural walk is due to the neighborhood reaching the level of statistical crime to justify the walk, and that Jefferson Avenue is just the first of other neighborhoods that have similar statistics.

He said Clay County has fewer violent crimes than Jacksonville, due in part to a lower population, but added that the prime crimes in the county are property crimes and thefts.

“Sheriff Daniels is my third sheriff...this is the only opportunity that I’ve been with the previous I’ve never done this before so this was actually pretty interesting for me to do this,” said Deputy Jacob Hawkins, who was recently transferred into CCSO’s community affairs section. “It’s kind of fun for me actually to get out and do this old type of police work, is what I call it, you can actually get out here and sit and talk with the people in the community and hear them say ‘this is what my concerns in the neighborhood are.’

When asked what his follow up to the community concerns might be in the future, Daniels laughed and said “stay tuned.”

“I’ll try to get as much as I could before nightfall, because people start getting nervous about police knocking on doors at that point,” Daniels said.