JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Business owners in Downtown Jacksonville are dealing with a mess before their day has even started, and some say a repeat offender is responsible.
Kevin Johnson, the manager at the halfway house Volunteers of America, said he came to work at least 10 times in the last year to find human waste outside the institution and caught a man in the act on surveillance camera.
"It's definitely something that's plaguing this area, and it has yet to be addressed," Johnson said.
Johnson gave the surveillance video to police who interviewed the man but made no arrest. Officers told Johnson they couldn't use the video.
Johnson told News4Jax the video, which he erased, showed the same man taking a bucket of human waste and dumping it at the front door of the halfway house. Johnson said the man also smeared the waste on several of the institution's vans, one of which was declared "totaled" by the insurance company.
"All the businesses (downtown) know, and I think I'm telling a new story that no one's heard and they say, 'Let me tell you mine,'" Johnson said.
The businesses most affected appear to be within blocks of the Clara White Mission, Trinity Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army. The shelters are typically at capacity, leaving many homeless turning to abandoned buildings nearby.
From October 2016 to September 2017, 1,400 incidents were reported to Downtown Vision, the nonprofit that cleans up the human waste, or as it calls them, "protein spills." Workers are sent to clean and pressure wash several times a day.
Buddy Sikes, owner of Sikes and Stowe Body Shop, said he's called to have human waste cleaned up outside his business at least three times in the last year. He said in one of the incidents, a vandal left hypodermic needs behind.
Sikes said he knew of seven other places dealing with the problem, including the courthouse and Maceo Elk's Lodge.
Downtown Vision recognized more needs to be done to address the problem, and many businesses said homelessness is to blame. Jacob Gordon, CEO of Downtown Vision, started a social outreach in January to find a solution.
"This is an issue that affects economic development," Gordon said. "I think if we help those people on the street, we're going to help downtown at the same time."