Funding Disagreement Leads To Slimmer Aerial Support For Gainesville-Area Law Enforcement
By Luly Hernandez
January 7, 2021
A new Alachua County Sheriff took over this week, and Clovis Watson will need to help decide what to do about the future of the erstwhile Joint Aviation Unit.
The joint helicopter unit disbanded on Sept. 30, following months of fraught negotiations between Gainesville City Manager Lee Feldman and former Sheriff Sadie Darnell about a funding split between the area’s two largest law enforcement entities: the Gainesville Police Department and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
Now, after more than two decades, it is run strictly by the sheriff’s office and is known as the Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit.