Police Chief Book Responds to SF College Gun Possession Incident
City Commissioner/Santa Fe College Police Chief Ed Book has answered questions about the recent gun possession incident at Santa Fe College.
Jordan Tucker, 21, was arrested on Thursday, November 7, and charged with possessing a firearm on school property. Tucker had two 9mm handguns in his bag, with one being loaded.
Tucker told police he got the firearms at a gun show in Miami and forgot he had them in his bag. Tucker is employed at Harry Beckwith Gun Store.
Book said an anonymous tip came through their See Something Say Something program at around 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. The reporter mentioned the room B-12 and described overhearing Tucker mention he had guns in his bag.
Book said SFPD was able to find a match between room B-12 and Tucker’s name.
Book said they had to catch Tucker on campus to make an arrest. “If he was driving in the exact same mechanism 100 yards from campus, then the way he was carrying it was legal. In a store, legal. Everything he was doing would be legal, but there’s a carved-out exception for higher education in the law, so the minute he steps on campus carrying a backpack and concealed firearms, that's a statutory violation. He could’ve left them in a car, and that would’ve been lawful. Walking on campus or in a classroom was not, so we had to make sure we had to camp for a violation. I felt like we did it in a way that maximized the opportunity to, if there's a threat, reduce it and mitigate it and also create an opportunity for arrest or sanctions.”
Book said college officials were immediately notified when the tip came in. "We gave notifications once we made the arrest, but See Something Say Something is a fantastic program, and the behind-the-scenes name for that is the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT).... When someone does a See Something Say Something report and they hit submit, the process is that it goes to ten college officials instantaneously. I’m one of them. The major in the police department is another. They're all student decision-makers around the college. Student Affairs, Legal [Affairs], Academic Affairs…. Often what comes in is someone's thinking of hurting themselves, or food insecure, or making awkward statements. Most of the tips that come through are not a threat to harm others; they’re care and concern. I did not need to notify college officials because ten college officials got it when it was submitted.”
Body camera footage shows Tucker signing a consent to search form for his house bedroom.
Book and Sergeant Anthony Manibusan said that Tucker had 511 tactical gloves and a neck gaiter mask in his bag.
SFPD remains in possession of Tucker’s firearms and ammunition.
Book was asked if the safety on the loaded gun was on.
Book responded, “We’re not sure we’d have to look back. Remember now that a lot of handguns are not made with safety; with some triggers and handguns, you actually have to pull twice as hard.... From a handgun perspective, it's either loaded or it's not; the key for us is if it's operational and it was.”
Book reported on a SF College press release about Tucker's arrest that there was “no threat found.”
Book defended his position. “The tip was neutral, so it wasn’t threat-based. It was someone overhearing, so it's third-party anonymous, so that also reduces…. We do things that I won’t get into the details, but we do a 360 profile. If we have a name or person, we’re gonna check the things we can reasonably check…. If we knew someone who has a history of incredible violence or domestic violence, that changes things. We do things to help us determine what we have, and what we ultimately determined is that we have a third-party anonymous tip and we’re gonna take whatever legal action we can. We're gonna contact this person and do it in a way we think is good, which is to contact them without their awareness and before they’re in our classroom. Everything else matches.”
GnvInfo asked SF College Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Dan Rodkin if he could disclose any administrative consequences Tucker has faced.
Rodkin responded that “As a Santa Fe College student, Jordan Tucker is entitled to privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), as explained here. If Jordan waives his right to privacy, I am happy to answer any questions you may have about him. Otherwise, I will not be able to answer any questions about him.”
Tucker was released on a $2,500 bond roughly nine hours after his arrest.
Tucker’s pretrial release conditions haven’t been verified. This information would normally be easily accessible on the Alachua County Court Records website through a first appearance order. Tucker's case file does not contain a first appearance order.
GnvInfo has obtained body-cam footage of the incident, and it will be released later this week.
