The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center building has been renamed after the current sheriff.
After a unanimous vote from the Board of County Commissioners Monday night, Oct. 20, the building located at 61 Sheriff E.W. Johnston Drive in Bunnell is now the Sheriff Rick Staly Law Enforcement Center.
The resolution adopted by the commissioners attributes to Staly numerous accomplishments and contributions he has made to Flagler County.
It follows an Oct. 6 request from Mark Strobridge, the sheriff’s office chief of staff, to the board to rename the building “in recognition of (Staly’s) local accomplishments and his 50 years of Florida law enforcement.”
“Through Sheriff Staly’s law enforcement career in Florida and his service as Flagler County’s Sheriff, he has made significant contributions to his profession and his community,” a report from county staff to the commissioners said. “The naming of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Operations Center in his honor is the culmination of a career not yet finished, and an honor worthy of his public service.”
“I was surprised and very honored,” Staly said in an interview Thursday morning, Oct. 23. “My staff apparently had been working on this … in recognition of my 50 years in law enforcement and what we have accomplished in Flagler County as a team under my leadership since 2017.”
Among Staly’s contributions noted in the resolution are “a 50% reduction in the crime rate of the County since 2017,” five different national and statewide accreditations, “FCSO’s Domestic Violence Initiative (started by Sheriff Staly) has produced a 15% decrease over six years in total domestic violence offenses from 570 in 2017 to 486 in 2022” and more.
It also points to Staly’s personal accomplishments, such as the Medal of Valor, Purple Heart Medal, and the Florida Governor’s Medal of Heroism “after being shot three times while saving the life of a Deputy Sheriff in Orange County,” as well as the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama in 2015.
Staly said “it is very nice that they did this before I’m dead.”
“I know that those kind of things are not taken lightly by the county commissioners or anyone,” Staly said. “My goal when I was elected sheriff was to change the culture and lay a new foundation for the sheriff’s office to make it a modern, 21st century law enforcement agency.”
He thanked his staff, county officials and local governments for their contributions to that goal.
Family of fallen Flagler Sheriff’s deputy opposes initiative
Three residents echoed the county’s praise for Staly and voiced their support for the initiative.
BOCC Chair Andy Dance said his interpretation of the renaming policy is “for those not currently serving,” but emphasized that the language isn’t clear.
“I think it is something we address with a policy revision, or we look at it later on,” Dance said. “I don’t see any reason not to support my fellow commissioners on this, for many other reasons that have been stated in the proclamation for the good work Sheriff Staly has done and his lifetime of service.”
Vice chair Leann Pennington also noted that the policy “doesn’t really even have a path forward for someone killed in the line of duty,” which was a point brought forth by some residents during public comment.
One such resident was Jessica Durrance, a relative of former Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy George W. “Son” Durrance, who was shot and killed Aug. 27, 1927, in Greenland, Florida (near Jacksonville).
The incident happened while Durrance was searching for the murderer of former Sheriff Perry Hall three days earlier, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office website.
“Deputy Durrance had received information the suspect may be in Greenland, Florida, and was conducting a stakeout,” according to the agency’s website. “Deputy Durrance observed a man fitting the suspect’s description and ordered him to raise his hands. The man raised a shotgun and exchanged shots with Deputy Durrance. Both men were struck.”
Jessica Durrance acknowledged Staly’s contribution and accomplishments, but argued those “do not outweigh the profound historical sacrifice of deputy George W. ‘Son’ Durrance.”
“Naming the operations center after Deputy Durrance would create powerful unified tribute to the foundational sacrifices made in protecting our community,” she said. “Sheriff Staly’s service is commendable and impactful in modern times; the symbolic value of combining Deputy Durrance’s name alongside Sheriff Perry Hall’s provides richer, more meaningful tribute aligned with our community’s heritage.”
Staly said that early in his tenure, the sheriff’s office named a training room in the previous operations building in honor of Durrance. The agency did the same for the new building, inaugurated in 2022.
Dance addressed Durrance’s comments, saying the county’s naming rights policy requires an outside request to the local government, which he encouraged the family to submit to the county.
“That’s what happened here,” Dance explained. “We didn’t just come up with this at the dais, it was presented to us following the policy that we have in place, so please look at that and bring that back to us.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler County Sheriff’s Operations Center renamed after Sheriff Rick Staly
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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