- May 5, 2024
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Ask the people around her, and the friends of Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputy first class Laura Jenkins will agree she lives by her motto, “it’s nice to be nice,” in every aspect of her life.
She’s the first person to extend a welcoming hand to the new person in a friend group. She cooks food for people in her fraternity who just left the hospital. And as a first responder, Jenkins goes so far as to keep her trunk stocked with items the people she meets on patrol might need — food, water, personal hygiene supplies and even extra flip flops.
“I've got everything that you could possibly think that someone in need could want," she said. "I carry it with me."
Jenkins, 39, waited tables for 15 years before she joined the police academy in 2017 at the age of 33. The FCSO hired Jenkins in 2018 and she now serves on the crisis negotiation team and the critical incident stress management team.
Jenkins said she’s proud to wear the uniform because of its an opportunity to help people.
This is not a valuable item for me, but it means everything when I give it to somebody.”
— LAURA JENKINS, FCSO deputy first class
The goodies she keeps in the trunk of her patrol car is just one way she helps people and the items come in handy all the time — from helping her soothe a young child caught in the middle of a domestic abuse case to handing out water and shoes to a bare foot homeless woman walking down the street.
“This is not a valuable item for me, but it means everything when I give it to somebody,” she said. “It makes them happy. But it makes me really happy to be able to provide that.”
Deputy first class Ben Stamps said he doesn’t know how she manages to fit everything in the patrol car, on top of all the gear they’re required to carry on shift.
“It's like Mary Poppins’ bag in there,” Stamps said, laughing. But carrying around the extra things on the off chance someone might need it “speaks volumes of her character,” he said.
Stamps and Jenkins were patrol zone partners for two years when he first joined the FCSO in 2020. Stamps said the two of them worked well together and have since become friends outside of the FCSO.
He said Jenkins is the “best kind of cop.”
“She just [has] a pretty keen intuition to be able to do the best job that that she could,” he said.
Responding to calls is just a portion of the work as an FCSO deputy, Stamps said, but Jenkins goes above and beyond with even the routine parts of the job.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her take an interest in something she didn’t need to."
— BEN STAMPS, FCSO deputy
One time, he said, a woman had died and left behind her small dog, and Jenkins jumped through hoops to ensure the dog found a good home instead of being lost in the system.
“She didn’t get paid to do any of that. She did it on her own time,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her take an interest in something she didn’t need to."
That part of Jenkins also shines in her capacity as chaplain for the nonprofit the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie 4256 in St. Augustine.
Chapter President Colby Dennis said Jenkins has been an eagle member for several years now but has become so much more involved since becoming chaplain in the last year.
The chaplain, he said, follows up with members who are going through hard times or are sick or hospitalized. And Jenkins goes above and beyond the description by regularly bringing home-cooked meals to homes to those who are ill, he said.
“She does so much,” he said. “Doing a full time job and still trying to put all the effort into what she can do to help and do more … I know I appreciate everything she does.”
You can't teach that. That's just what someone has naturally — and she does.”
— COLBY DENNIS, Fraternal Order of Eagles chapter president
Dennis said recently a member of their chapter has been battling lung cancer, and Jenkins has gone out of her way to spend time with and connect with him anytime the two are both present at the order.
“That communication and just love is just amazing,” Dennis said. “You can't teach that. That's just what someone has naturally — and she does.”
Jenkins said helping people is ingrained in her.
“That's what my game is about, you know,” Jenkins said. “I get to help people, even just a little bit, and get bad guys.”
Stamps said her kind nature just reflects what a great person Jenkins is, on and off the force.
“She really shines as a beacon for law enforcement,” he said. “It reflects amazingly on all of us, because she is constantly putting her best foot forward.”
