- October 27, 2024
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Deputies' patrol vehicles have computer screens displaying a list of all the deputies working that shift and what they're doing. The names of the deputies who are available to respond to calls — who aren't tied up elsewhere — are highlighted in green.
There were only a handful of green lines on the screen captures that Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly showed to Palm Coast City Council members during a council workshop July 13.
Staly presented the images as he pressed the City Council to increase its annual contribution to the Sheriff's Office's budget by $1.14 million so that the FCSO can hire more deputies. The city contributed $4.4 million this year.
The agency is understaffed, Staly said, which makes it hard to send backup when needed — potentially endangering deputies and increasing the risk of officer-involved shootings.
He showed council members body-camera footage of an incident earlier in March in which it took several deputies to detain a man who reached for a 9-mm handgun during a traffic stop. The man turned out to be wanted for murder in Georgia.
"If he was given the opportunity to pull that gun, we would have probably lost two deputies," Staly said.
The sheriff would like to add 25 deputies, with the county government covering the cost of 15 of them, and the city covering the other 10.
The agency currently has 1.7 deputies per 1,000 residents, while the average for agencies in the south with populations Flagler's size is 1.9 deputies per 1,000 residents, according to the FCSO. A study conducted by the University of North Florida held that the FCSO should have 78 deputies to provide the level of service Palm Coast has historically wanted; the agency currently has 53, leaving it 25 short.
Although the FCSO provides service countywide, the city of Palm Coast has a contact with the law enforcement agency for an increased level of service within its boundaries, because Palm Coast, unlike Flagler Beach or Bunnell, does not have its own city police department.
"You have the best of both worlds right now," Staly told the City Council.
But the city's funding of additional deputies to deal with increasing calls from service as the city's population grows has been at best sporadic, he said.
"Now is the time, unfortunately, that we have to pay the piper," Staly said. "It’s time for the city of Palm Coast to start providing a consistent level of law enforcement service for its community, before we become the kind of community we don’t want to be."
The additional deputies, Staly said, would be assigned to high-volume time frames, and some would provide additional coverage for Intracoastal marine patrol and for the agency's cybercrime unit, both of which are currently staffed by only one deputy each.
City Council members at the workshop expressed support for the Sheriff's Office and a willingness to consider paying for more deputies. The council will make a final determination on the sheriff's request as the city determines its budget for the coming year.
