By Cindy Jackson
Reporter
October 3, 2021
It’s official. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved a final budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 on Monday, September 27th, 2021. The total being $327,883.310 – a topic which has been discussed at length in earlier articles.
That meeting of the BOCC on 9/27/2021, however, was overshadowed by the death of Nassau County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Moyers. In fact, it went into recess as the procession to honor Moyers drove through Yulee. (The BOCC meets at 96135 Nassau Place on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 6:00 pm and the third Wednesday of each month at 9:00 am at that same location).
To that end and prior to the recess, the BOCC unanimously approved the creation of a special account related to the “manhunt” for the suspect accused of shooting Deputy Moyers. That fund remains under the control of the BOCC in the amount of $500,000.
All invoices and expenditures incurred by Nassau County will be coded to that special account and may include but are not limited to, among other things:
• overtime for Nassau County staff including the Sheriff’s Office, Fire and Rescue and Facilities, among others.
• food, water and basic supplies/toiletries (although the Nassau County community donated tons of food, water, and other supplies at a moment’s notice)
• portable restrooms
• fuel for equipment and search vehicles
As to the cost of the countless other personnel that provided immense assistance in the search for the suspect, evidence recovery and other operations from agencies across the state and beyond – including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is this:
“Nassau County made a Mutual Aid Request through the Florida Sheriff’s Association for manpower and equipment to assist in the operation. There will be no cost incurred by Nassau County for this mutual aid.”
As outlined on the website of the Florida Sheriffs Association is this statement:
One of the strengths of the Florida Sheriffs Association is the ability to pool resources from the 67 sheriffs’ offices to address specific areas of concern. After Florida’s Mutual Aid Act took effect in 1984, the sheriffs were given a better system for working together during emergency operations, including built-in legal protections. The Florida sheriffs took this a step further by creating a structure to launch proactive efforts, including establishing operation protocols and Command Advisory Teams with specific expertise, including hostage negotiations, forensics, and civil disturbance.
As to the history of cooperation and collaboration among Florida law enforcement units is this statement:
The first statewide task force operation, held in July 1989, was organized to address the growing crack cocaine problem. It involved more than 1,500 law enforcement officers from various counties and resulted in 2,224 arrests. Since then, the Florida Sheriffs Task Force operations have gained national recognition, including an effort that removed $1.5 million of prescription drugs from the street, a crackdown on “Deadbeat Dads,” and mass arrests of sexual predators. The Florida Sheriffs Task Force also is the point of contact for statewide initiatives, including helping to staff the state Emergency Operations Center and coordinating sheriffs’ offices responding to storm-ravaged communities during hurricanes and other catastrophic disasters.