Brevard Sheriff's "Felon Sweep" Nets 501 Arrests

BREVARD COUNTY, Floridda --The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with The Florida Sheriffs Task Force, recently launched an initiative to remove felons from Florida’s streets. 

Operation “Felon Sweep” focused on removing violent felons, felons with outstanding warrants, and sexual offenders and predators from Brevard County communities. 

Over a twenty-two day period between September 28th and October 19th, deputies and agents of the Sheriff’s Office arrested 501 individuals on felony charges including the service of 275 felony warrants. 

This agency-wide effort also included targeted enforcement initiatives by the Special Investigations Unit, the GAMEOVER Task Force, and the Sexual Offender Registration and Tracking (SORT) Unit. 

During compliance checks of sexual offenders and predators, eleven suspects  were arrested for alleged violations of their probation or for failing to comply with the stipulations of their release. 

“We were proud that Brevard County Law Enforcement could play a role in this large scale operation. Arresting more than 500 people in Brevard alone for felony crimes, many of which were dangerous and evading authorities, is a successful operation by any measure,” said  Sheriff Jack Parker.  

The Florida Sheriffs initiated and coordinated this effort to make Florida’s streets a safer place for its citizens.  This operation combined efforts from 44 separate Sheriff’s Offices throughout the State of Florida.  The operation resulted in 11,875 felony arrests and significant seizures including over 900 lbs. of marijuana, 30 lbs of cocaine, and over 6,000 prescription pills.  Agencies across the state also seized over $410,000 in illegal cash proceeds. 

 “Felonies are taken very seriously and we at the Florida Sheriffs Association are proud to lead this initiative to get criminals off the streets,” said FSA President, Sheriff Susan Benton. “The Florida Sheriffs Task Force will continue to work tirelessly to make Florida one of the safest states in the country.” 

The Florida Sheriffs Task Force pools resources from the 67 Sheriffs’ Offices to address specific areas of concern. Past task forces have dealt with issues such as cyber sexual predators, prescription drug abuse and “deadbeat dads.”  The Florida Sheriffs Task Force also is the point of contact for statewide initiatives, including helping to staff the State Emergency Operations Center and coordinating Sheriffs' offices responding to storm- ravaged communities during hurricanes and other catastrophic disasters.