In May 2025, Florida TaxWatch and the Florida Sheriff Association conducted a joint survey to local sheriff offices to learn more about law enforcement’s workforce challenges.
What are the primary roles of deputy sheriffs?
- For all counties, a significant amount of a deputy sheriff’s time is spent on emergency or non-emergency calls for service.
- Most respondents noted an average response time under ten minutes for emergency calls for service and under 15 minutes for non-emergency calls for service.
- More than two-thirds of all respondents reported a significant or slight increase in average response times over the past five years.
What models do local Sheriff’s Offices use to determine staffing needs?
- Workload-based staffing models determine staffing needs based on local demands; however, the models require more time and money to complete than other models.
- These models were most commonly used by respondents from medium counties.
- For small and large counties, most respondents use staffing models based on current budget levels or past practices.
What challenges do local Sheriff’s Offices face in recruiting and retaining deputy sheriffs?
- Small counties have the highest percentage of respondents reporting a shortage of deputy sheriffs (85 percent).
- Among all counties, lack of applicants and qualified applicants were some of the most commonly cited recruitment issues.
- Among small and medium counties, a third of respondents reported that most deputy sheriffs have a tenure of less than three years.
- Small and medium counties seem to struggle more than large counties with deputy sheriffs leaving for financial reasons.
What funding needs influence a sheriff’s ability to hire sheriff deputies?
- Among all respondents, the cost of vehicles and vessels was most commonly listed as a budget concern when hiring new staff.
- Most respondents reported that their local government provided enough funding.
- The respondents that claimed funding needs were left unmet shared a few characteristics: all of them were located in small counties, most of them listed uncompetitive salaries and benefits as their biggest hiring challenge, and most of them reported not having enough staff to satisfy local demands for service.
Looking ahead, what actions can be taken to help remedy staffing challenges?
Law enforcement is struggling to overcome wage competition amid a limited talent pool. Looking ahead, local and state government must consider ways to expand the talent pool and more accurately align staffing needs with local demand.