- November 25, 2024
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To keep up with the county’s rapidly growing population, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office needs 37 more deputies.
The problems facing the Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council are not just about the need for more deputies, but also how the cost of new deputies would be split among the commission and the city of Palm Coast. Sheriff Rick Staly said he is often caught in the middle between the two board’s competing interests.
“If you can come to an agreement on what the ratio is,” Staly said, “then everybody knows what the expectations are.”
Staly said Flagler County and Palm Coast staff have been working with Flagler County Sheriff’s Office administrators for close to a year to develop an in-depth analysis on FCSO deputy staffing needs in the coming years. Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston presented the results of that analysis at a joint workshop meeting on March 20 to the Flagler County Commission and Palm Coast City Council.
The report analyzed the number of calls for service the FCSO receives in Palm Coast and unincorporated Flagler County. Because Flagler Beach and Bunnell have their own police departments, calls in those areas were factored out.
The report showed that FCSO deputies spend, on average, two hours on one call for service.
Deputies’ shifts are in 12-hour intervals, and the FCSO is proposing a 67% obligation rate, which means deputies would spend roughly 67% of their shifts responding to calls and the remaining time on proactive patrols.
“The reason you don't want 12 hour obligated time handling calls is because then you become strictly a reactive law enforcement agency and not proactive,” Staly said.
According to the data in the report, in one 24-hour period, the FCSO would need a minimum of 71 deputies to support the number of calls received and still allow time for proactive patrols, Johnston said. That number also takes into consideration time off requests and vacation time.
Based on the number of calls for service received each year — over 43,000 — and the 67% obligation rate, Johnston said, that breaks down to 308 calls for service per deputy per year as a standard level of service.
At that level of service, the FCSO is at a deficit of 37 deputies for its current population. And that is not including future growth, Staly said.
“This is a fast-growing county, as you know, and the quality of life depends on the first responders,” Staly said.
This is a fast-growing county, as you know, and the quality of life depends on the first responders.”
— RICK STALY, Flagler Sheriff
Staly also pointed out that the report does not include support staff like 911 dispatchers, administrators, court and detention staff.
Ideally, to be caught up over the next several years, Staly said, the Sheriff’s Office would receive funding for 12 new deputies in both fiscal year 2025 and 2026, plus another 13 deputies in fiscal year 2027.
But, for those positions to be funded, the county and Palm Coast need to come to an agreement on who pays how much and what level of service is acceptable.
Over 80% of the calls for service are for Palm Coast, Staly said, and Johnston’s presentation recommended both boards adopt the 308 calls per deputy per year service rate.
City Council member Theresa Carli Pontieri said she would like to see how other, similar-sized municipalities fair on other levels of service.
“I would like to adopt a level of service,” she said, “…to have a metric that we can consistently go by year after year.”
A lower level of service would decrease the number of new deputy positions required, but also lower proactive patrol time.
Growth needs to be serviced. The calls don't stop — the growth drives the calls."
— LEANN PENNINGTON, county commissioner
Once a level of service is decided on, then comes the decision of how to fund the positions. While there are multiple options to fund new deputy positions, the most common would be dedicating a portion of the city’s or county’s millage rate, or implementing a half-cent sales tax.
Both boards are entering the beginning of the fiscal year 2025 budget discussions.
Commissioner Leann Pennington said regardless of the county’s crime rate, so long as the population increases the number of calls for services will also increase. If the county is going to have sustained growth, she said, there needs be a commitment to funding the needed positions in incremental ways.
“Growth needs to be serviced,” Pennington said. “The calls don't stop — the growth drives the calls. So regardless of type of crime rate or anything like that, you're going to have the calls coming in, so he [Staly] has to be properly staffed for that.”
