NEWS RELEASE
FCSO Awarded Nearly $5.8 Million in State Grant Funding to Modernize Communications and Public Safety Technology
Date:Wednesday, July 22, 2026
BUNNELL, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded nearly $5.8 million in state grant funding to modernize its emergency communications, equip deputies with advanced technology, and strengthen public safety operations across Flagler County — at no cost to local taxpayers.
The funding was awarded through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Because the costs are covered by the state, Flagler County property taxpayers will not pay for the equipment and upgrades the grant provides.
More than half of the funding will be used to replace the agency’s portable radio system with next-generation radios that can communicate over traditional radio frequency (RF), cellular networks, and satellite, ensuring deputies remain connected even when one communication network is unavailable. This multi-network capability provides reliable communications during natural disasters like hurricanes, in remote areas, and during large-scale incidents while improving interoperability with neighboring agencies and enhancing deputy safety and operational effectiveness.
The grant also funds AXON AI Assistant licenses for the agency’s existing body-worn cameras, giving deputies real-time, hands-free translation in more than 50 languages. The technology helps deputies communicate clearly with non-English speakers during traffic stops, calls for service, and other encounters — reducing misunderstandings, improving officer safety, and helping to build trust across Flagler County’s diverse communities with the ability to communicate in their native language in real time.
Funding will also equip FCSO’s helicopter with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging system, an aviation spotlight, and night-vision capability at no cost to our residents. The upgrades expand the agency’s ability to locate missing persons, search the county’s extensive waterways and wooded terrain, track fleeing suspects, and support deputies on the ground during critical incidents.
The remaining funds will replace aging, heat-damaged patrol laptops with rugged mobile computers, strengthen the agency’s Real Time Crime Center, and provide deputies with life-saving medical equipment, including automated CPR devices and defibrillators.
“Every dollar of this grant is a dollar we didn’t have to ask Flagler County taxpayers for,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “This funding puts the best available technology in the hands of our deputies updated radios, real-time translation to break down language barriers, and better eyes in the sky to find missing people and hunt down criminals. These grant dollars were going to go somewhere in Florida, so I believe in bringing home as much grant money as we can get for our community. Public safety in Flagler County just got a major upgrade, and we didn’t have to ask our local residents to foot the bill.”
The award continues Sheriff Staly’s record of aggressively pursuing outside funding to bring advanced resources to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at no cost to local taxpayers. Since Staly has been Sheriff, over $12 million dollars in grants funds have been received.
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