Florida agricultural intelligence unit protects country assets

When the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office gets a call that an alligator needs to be wrangled or loose livestock needs to be herded in Myakka City, Sgt. Rob Hendrickson is sent to the scene.

Counties throughout Florida have officers like Hendrickson who get the call on special cases that involve farming and agriculture.

Once a month, law enforcement and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers gather to share information as part of the Florida Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit. The unit is split into two chapters. North Florida is its own chapter, and South and Central Florida work together. The last meeting was Feb. 19 at the Sarasota County Farm Bureau.

Members of the FACIU investigate thefts, but they’re more likely looking for cow thieves than car thieves. There’s also “big money” in bee hive theft.

“It’s just like anything else,” Hendrickson said. “You’ve got to know bees to steal bees. A person from town is not going to come out and just steal a bee hive.”

Crops can be stolen, too. In that case, the crime is typically perpetrated by out-of-work pickers. Hendrickson said a machine can’t function as efficiently as people, so it’s not hard for a crew to come in at night and pick a field clean.

Once off the farm, there’s no way to track cases of tomatoes that show up at a farmers’ market in the next county over. If leaving the state, there are check stations, but not at county lines, which is one reason why FACIU shares information with its members.

In the case of illegally harvested saw palmetto berries, which are most commonly used in supplements that aid in prostate health, the crime starts to the south and travels north.

Deputy William Batson said once he sees illegal harvesting in Charlotte County, the crime typically takes about two months to work its way up to Flagler County.

Most people have probably never heard of such a crime, but it’s so prevalent and concerning that legislation was passed in 2018 that requires a permit to sell or harvest the berries. In 2024, the legislation was strengthened to require additional paperwork to prove where the berries were harvested and that the landowner gave permission.

Harvesting, selling or buying the berries illegally is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison because saw palmetto is a keystone species that insects and animals rely upon for food and as a habitat.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

But theft and intel are not the only reasons officers meet each month. They also share information and resources with each other and other stakeholders.

When Orlando Police Department Sgt. Neal Chase told the group he was dealing with an animal abuse case, in which someone stabbed their neighbor’s dog in the neck, Hendrickson shared his experience on getting expert testimony from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Hendrickson also offered an example of working with John Deere because the company’s president attended one of FACIU’s annual conferences.

Tracking devices in John Deere’s big equipment is fairly standard because much of it is GPS controlled, but it’s not standard in the smaller equipment.

Hendrickson noted that people don’t steal big tractors, they steal things like skid steers. While it doesn’t help law enforcement with the equipment that’s already been manufactured, John Deere did respond and is putting trackers in a lot of its newer and smaller equipment.

“We try to work with other entities,” Hendrickson said. “We’ve had state senators show up before and congressional representatives. We let them know when we need the laws changed.”