City Council President Sam Newby deserves a big Wink for ending a series of meetings that were counter-productive to law and order in Jacksonville.

Called “Safer Together” workshops, they were held over the past year by two council members, Joyce Morgan and Michael Boylan.

The purpose was to examine the need for police reform. They didn’t find a need.

Instead, they heard endless complaints by liberals who want to hamstring the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and make life safer – but only for criminals.

The complaints were not about anything the local police had done. Mostly they reiterated talking points by liberal Democrats in other cities.

In some of those cities, police defunding and firings have put the citizens at much greater risks, and violent crime is soaring. In some cities, minor crimes are now ignored.

Local liberals demanded a “review board” that would investigate complaints about police conduct, which already is done by authorities.

Although the two members had issued a final report, they continued meeting.

But a meeting last week was so rancorous that Boylan quit the committee, saying the participants in the meetings had not demonstrated any trust of others, and had made disparaging assertions and unwanted accusations against the police.

Newby issued a memo in which he thanked the members for their report and said they had done “significant work” by holding the meetings.

A group of liberal organizations protested, but to no avail.

The effort was ill-conceived, non-productive and was being used for partisan purposes. Newby was right to end the meetings and showed the kind of leadership the council needs.