- December 4, 2025
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Master Detective Kathryn Gordon was named Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida’s 2025 Officer of the Year in the large agency category.
The award was presented at the Crime Stoppers 25th annual banquet on Sept. 4 in Daytona Beach.
Gordon joined the FCSO in 2020 as a patrol deputy in the Community Policing Division. In 2021, she joined the Major Case Unit, where she handles some of the agency’s most demanding cases, including shootings, homicides and sexual offenses involving vulnerable children.
Among her accomplishments over the past year, Gordon investigated a multi-jurisdictional sex offense, uncovering multiple child victims across three states and securing confessions from suspects. She also served as lead detective on a child sexual exploitation case, which ended in the arrest of a suspect on charges of human trafficking and unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
Gordon is also a member of the FCSO Emergency Response Team. In September 2024, she was deployed to assist in Taylor County in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
In addition to her caseload and ERT duties, Gordon is a Florida Department of Law Enforcement-certified instructor and has trained five new detectives who have joined the Major Case Unit in the past year. She is also a member of the International Homicide Investigators Association and the National Homicide Investigators Association.
“Major Case Master Detective Gordon being named Officer of the Year for large agencies is an incredible honor and a testament to her dedication, professionalism and relentless pursuit of justice for victims,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility has been selected by the National Institute for Jail Operations to receive the 2025 Detention Facility Innovation Award. The award will be formally presented during the JAILCON25 Southern Regional Conference on Oct. 15 in Mobile, Alabama.
The Detention Facility Innovation Award is awarded to a detention facility which has demonstrated exceptional achievement in developing and/or enhancing a particular aspect or feature in the facility or in the operations of the facility in line with the mission of the Sheriff’s Office during the past year.
The Flagler jail also won the award in 2022.
“As this award shows, we are proving that our jail is a leader in corrections and rehabilitation,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Although we are tough on crime, we don’t want to have a revolving door arresting the same offenders over and over. Today, we give our inmates the tools and opportunity to turn their lives around and become productive citizens. By doing this our community is safer, which is reflected in our more than 50% reduction in crime since 2017.”
In December 2024, the jail partnered with Parkview Church to reunite inmates with their children during the holiday season through a program called “Joy Beyond Walls: A Christmas Connection with FCSO and Parkview Church.” The jail again partnered with Parkview Church in April for “The Hope Project,” an ongoing initiative designed to provide inmates with the opportunity to participate in worship and church services.
In July, the jail introduced a new homeless kitten-fostering initiative in partnership with the Flagler Humane Society. Through this program, inmates conduct daily kitten care routines, including feeding, socializing, and bottle-feeding, designed to give inmates a sense of purpose, responsibility, a daily routine and emotional support — all key components in effective addiction treatment and recovery.”
The jail has also expanded its Homeward Bound Initiative, a partnership with Flagler Technical College, to provide inmates with training and credentials to enter good paying, high demand, readily available and sustainable careers in the community after their release.
