An $8 million-plus request from The Collier County Sheriff's Office is among the $90 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies for items related to enforcement of illegal immigration approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday.
The $90 million in overall grants is for new and amended grants to 56 county and city police departments for radios, body cameras, riot gear, ballistic helmets, X-ray machines, inmate restraint chairs and other items.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office requested more than $8 million, with about $5 million to be used for communication equipment, including radios. Notably, the county asked for $600,000 for two Skywatch mobile towers to “enhance situation awareness and support immigration enforcement operations.”
"Our application for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Local Law Enforcement Immigration Grant Program is complete and thorough with narratives that explain and justify each requested item," Karie Partington, Media Relations Bureau Manager for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, told WGCU.
She added that the Sheriff’s Office has the longest standing, largest and most productive 287g partnership with ICE in the nation.
"Since 2009, we have had multiple inspections yielding favorable findings and acknowledgements of compliance with the laws and requirements of this program," she told WGCU. "For the past seventeen years, our commitment has been to lawfully identify for removal illegal immigrants that have committed crimes and victimized our residents, businesses and visitors. By maintaining our 287g partnership, we remain dedicated to reducing victimization here in Collier County."
Partington said that the Collier County community has expressed overwhelming support for the Sheriff's Office participation in the 287g program.
Furthermore, she said, the Sheriff's Office meets all training mandates of the Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission including topics such as Implicit Bias, Discriminatory Profiling and Crisis Intervention as well as those required by the agency's 287g partnership agreement: Accountability, Cross Cultural Communications, Constitutional Law and more.
According to the Sheriff's Office grant application, among the requests to be funded were X-ray machines and inmate body scanners to replace current old and obsolete body scanner and x-ray machines in the jail facilities; upgrades for Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) to assist with tracking, identifying an managing detainees in real-time in a more efficient manner; Inmate Management Chairs (restraint chairs that are specialized and highly security devices). The chairs temporarily secure, immobilize, and control combative or self-harming immigration detainees within our facilities; Narcotics Spectrometer, used to test unknown substances that are being smuggled into our country; License plate readers to track, target, and identify vehicles, which will be used to aid the agency in active investigations linked to immigration-related offenses; and software to enable operational coordination and investigations tied to criminal activity associated with illegal immigration.
Collier County Sheriff's Office also seeks funding to implement the Peregrine platform to strengthen an ability to identify, investigate, and disrupt criminal activity associated with illegal immigration. The Sheriff's Office application said that Peregrine provides an integrated operational environment that brings together information from multiple other sources.
DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who comprise the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, unanimously approved the funding.
Out of the $90 million in grants, $30.3 million is for new awards and $57 million are additional funds for law enforcement agencies that had already asked for assistance.
In the latest batch of requests, Orange County and Polk County sheriff offices asked for the most money. The bulk of Orange County’s $10 million proposal is for equipment, with $9 million of those funds going to 910 portable radios.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office asked for $10 million, with $8.7 million being spent on encrypted radio device systems and servers. The current radios the sheriff’s office uses cannot communicate with ICE agents because they lack encryption capabilities, the request says.
“With the proposed upgrades, communication with ICE will be enabled, ultimately reducing the risk of our officers and ICE agents, and strengthening the overall security of our sensitive communications,” the request states.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office south about $9 million, which includes more than $2.5 million for a rapid DNA testing system and 2,000 DNA processing swabs.
“With DNA results available quickly, we can reduce detention and processing times, resolve immigration status faster, and reallocate resources to more critical enforcement and investigative tasks,” Walton County’s request says.
The state has approved $147 million in immigration enforcement grants and disbursed almost $5 million to 25 local law enforcement agencies, according to Transparency Florida, a state website that tracks government spending.
Lawmakers in 2025 set aside $250 million to reimburse local law enforcement for purchases related to illegal immigration enforcement, including overtime for officers who participate in operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The board also extended an emergency rule allowing funds to reimburse agencies with an agreement with ICE for vehicle purchases.
Local law enforcement agencies are allowed to buy one multi-passenger van to transport immigrants between county, state and federal detention facilities.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you. The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
