- May 6, 2024
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Deputy Scott Jackson; Flagler County Commissioner Nate McLaughlin; Kim Hale, PAL director; Sheriff James L. Manfre; Sgt. Mike Lutz; Cornelia Manfre, the Sheriff’s wife. (Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.)
FLA-TAC President Juliane Day, Specialist Michele Bagnoli, Sgt. Adam Biss, Sheriff James Manfre, FLA-TAC Commissioner Nathan Lee, Director Jim Troiano and FLA-TAC Executive Director Bob Brongel. (Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.)
Sheriff James L. Manfre addresses students at Matanzas High Schoo. Sheriff's Office spokesman Director Jim Troiano is at left.(Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.)
Pastor Gwen Jackson speaks with students Andrew Wills, Douglas Wilson and Troy Buchanan at a “One Common Ground’’ meeting at Matanzas High School. (Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.)
The following is a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office:
Flagler County Sheriff James L. Manfre proudly presented the Sheriff’s Office’s brand-new Police Athletic League (PAL) office today with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event at the new facility.
The new office is centrally located — near the Palm Coast Precinct at City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C217 — and offers parents and families more space to meet with PAL officials.
PAL serves about 1,000 youth countywide.
PAL offers a variety of sports-related activities as well as mentoring and educational programs for Flagler County youths of all ages.
Sheriff’s deputies are actively involved in programs for young people, which help them build strong relationships between youth and law enforcement officers, said Kimberly Hale, PAL director. “We want all kids to be able to participate.’’
As Manfre ceremonially cut the ribbon for the new PAL office, he said, “It’s important to keep kids busy with things that are constructive rather than destructive. And PAL does that. The national conversation about law enforcement has caused us to redouble our efforts.’’

PAL builds positive relationships between deputies and youth, he said.
Not only does PAL provide summer activities, but the nonprofit group is also building programs for after-school and weekends.
For example, PAL offers Police Explorers, for young men and women ages 14-19, and the Junior Police Academy, an after-school program for middle school kids.
Flagler County Sheriff's Office Deputy Scott Jackson, a deputy at the Flagler jail, is a single dad of three children, ages 8, 13 and 16, who all participate in PAL programs.
He is vice president of the Flagler Warriors football board of directors and praised PAL programs.
“A lot of kids are where they are without anything to do. We fill in the gaps,’’ he said. “We’re teaching kids to be leaders. Not followers.’’
The new PAL office is triple the size of the old facility, which was next door to Flagler Palm Coast High School. The new office is located near the Palm Coast Precinct of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) at 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C217.
For more information about PAL, go to flaglersheriffsPAL.org.
The following is a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office:
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has received, for the first time in agency history, accreditation for our Communications Section today at the Florida Telecommunications Commission’s (FLA-TAC) business meeting in St. Augustine, Florida.
The process for this accreditation began in early 2015 during the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation’s (CFA) reaccreditation process.
With months of work conducted by Accreditation Manager Sgt. Adam Biss, Accreditation Specialist Michele Bagnoli, Communications Manager Kelley Eisen and staff throughout the agency, on Jan. 14, 2016, Mary Shiver, the accreditation manager for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and assessor for FLA-TAC conducted an on-site assessment of the agency.
Upon her thorough assessment, Shiver wrote to the FLA-TAC Commission the following: “The sheriff’s office maintains comparative compliance with CFA for identified FLA-TAC standards. It is the recommendation of the assessment team that the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center be reviewed for accredited status by FLA-TAC at its next meeting.”
Of the 116 required standards established by FLA-TAC, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office was required to meet 73 mandatory and non-mandatory standards, as the remaining 43 were met through comparative compliance extended following the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office being re-accredited by the Commission of Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA) in October 2015.
Of the 73 standards, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office met 72, as one standard was not applicable to the operation of the agency. At the FLA-TAC business meeting, Bob Brongel, the executive director for FLA-TAC, commended the staff of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office for a job well done.
“Having had the opportunity to work with the team at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, I have truly enjoyed their professionalism and commitment to the accreditation process. They are a hard working group of dedicated professionals, and Sheriff Manfre and the citizens of the County have every right to feel proud of their agency,” Brongel said.
“I am extremely proud of all who made this historic accreditation process a reality for not only the FCSO, but the community we serve. This is a report card of our performance, one where we received an A-plus,” said Sheriff James L. Manfre.
As soon as all of the construction projects are completed at our jail complex later this year, the FCSO will seek, for the first time in agency history, accreditation for our jail from the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission in 2017.
The following is a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office:
The issues of bullying, school cliques, suicide, interaction with law enforcement, leadership and success were bandied about Thursday at the area’s third “One Common Ground’’ meeting as Flagler Sheriff James L. Manfre, School Superintendent Jacob Oliva, school and law enforcement officials and area pastors encouraged Matanzas High students to speak their minds.

“We all need to build better relationships within our community, including bringing in our local clergy," Oliva said. Addressing the Matanzas High School students, the superintendent added, “you need to see the importance of these relationships. You are the future of Flagler County and what you do by opening up these lines of communication will help you when you graduate from high school and walk onto a college campus or into the workforce.”
The One Common Ground concept began following racial unrest and tensions in many areas of the country, as well as how local officials were going to address the potential of rebel flags being brought onto campuses on the first day of public school.
Manfre brought together the clergy, schools and law enforcement to ensure open lines of communication, cooperation, understanding and prevention were established before a local incident could happen.
The first meeting was held on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2015, at the First Baptist Church in Bunnell. The first meeting was a success as efforts identified at the meeting were put into place and issues were handled without incident.
“We have to work together and the efforts of this group helped us all learn and avoid issues at our schools and in our community,’’ Manfre said.
Leaders at Thursday’s meeting, including Manfre and Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Director Jim Troiano, emphasized the importance of speaking honestly about what’s going on, even with painful subjects like suicide, and how to increase respect at school and between law enforcement and the community.
One student, Troy Buchanan, a Matanzas High basketball player and a member of ROTC, suggested school administrators could dress casually at school to appear more approachable. “Dress down one day a week. Look more like us,” he said.
Jenice Marshall, also a student, said administrators should “get to the root” of what’s going on at school and get to know students, whether they are bully-ers or victims. Dr. Earl Johnson, principal of Matanzas, and Dr. John Schelby, assistant principal, reminded students to speak up and communicate their needs to school officials.
Networking and helping each other is also a goal, participants agreed. Pastor Sims Jones of Bunnell, a foster parent and first vice president of the NAACP of Flagler County, emphasized the need to listen to each other. “People talk to me because I listen to them. We need to form a support mechanism between kids and law enforcement,” so people can speak (to each other) without fear.
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office has taken a lead in spearheading the One Common Ground movement. Last month a meeting was conducted at Flagler Palm Coast High School with similar discussions emerging between students and community leaders.
Manfre told students Thursday that law enforcement is striving to be “less punitive and more recovery. I’m telling you, it’s starting to change. You need to demand that we continue to build trust so you feel a sense of security, and ownership, not fear.”
