The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is set to approve a series of purchases for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office at its Thursday, April 16 meeting.
Much of the funding will come from federal forfeiture funds – a pool of money that law enforcement agencies build over time through seized assets tied to criminal activity.
The largest portion of the spending centers around two major pieces of equipment: a new SERT support vehicle and a Mobile Command Center.
A SERT vehicle is essentially a rolling toolbox for the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team – a specialized unit that handles the most dangerous and high-risk situations that law enforcement encounters. The vehicle is designed to carry and organize the equipment deputies need when seconds matter, including tactical gear, protective equipment and tools used in complex operations.
Those situations can include armed standoffs, hostage situations, high-risk warrant service, barricaded suspects, bomb threats and other incidents where standard patrol resources aren’t enough.
By having a purpose-built vehicle ready to go, the team can respond faster, operate more safely and bring the right equipment directly to the scene when a situation turns critical.
According to county documents, the Sheriff’s Office had already budgeted $1.125 million in the fiscal 2025-2026 budget for specialty equipment that has reached the end of its useful life.
However, final costs for the two vehicles came in higher than expected – totaling $1,212,403, or about $87,000 over budget.
To cover that gap, the Sheriff’s Office is asking the commissioners to approve the use of about $88,000 in federal forfeiture funds.
The SERT vehicle alone is expected to cost $438,478 and it will replace an aging converted ambulance that’s been used by the county’s Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team. The new vehicle is designed to transport tactical gear and includes reinforced compartments for explosive materials handled by bomb technicians.
The Mobile Command Center carries an even higher price tag at $773,925.
That vehicle will function as a rolling headquarters during major incidents. It’s outfitted with communications systems, data connectivity, mapping tools and workspace for command staff coordinating responses to large-scale emergencies.
In addition to the vehicles, the Sheriff’s Office is also requesting funding for several smaller but still significant purchases.
Those include $90,840 for 150 gas masks for deputies, as well as $110,158 for additional Real Time Crime Center cameras. The camera purchases break down further into license plate reader systems and quick-deploy camera units that can be used in active investigations or in rapidly evolving situations.
All of those additional purchases would also be funded through federal forfeiture funds, bringing the total forfeiture-funded request to $288,998.
Before these expenditures, the Sheriff’s Office had about $808,000 available in forfeiture funds. When approved, that balance will drop to just over $519,000.
Federal forfeiture funds come from assets seized during criminal investigations – often involving drug trafficking, fraud or other illegal enterprises. Under federal law, local agencies that participate in certain joint investigations can receive a share of the proceeds when assets are seized and forfeited through the courts.
Those funds are restricted in how they can be used. They generally must be spent on law enforcement purposes such as equipment, training or technology, and can’t be used to replace normal budgeted expenses. In other words, they’re intended to supplement, not supplant, taxpayer-funded budgets.
That’s why items like specialty vehicles, protective gear and advanced surveillance technology often show up in forfeiture-funded requests like this one.
In a separate but related item also scheduled for the April 16 meeting, the Sheriff’s Office is seeking to spend an additional $75,000 from a different funding source – the Unauthorized Substance Tax Fund – in order to purchase a new vehicle for its DWI Task Force.
That fund, which is built from taxes assessed on illegal drugs, currently has a balance of about $705,000. When approved, the purchase will reduce that balance to roughly $630,000.
The vehicle in question is a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Police Pursuit Vehicle, expected to cost $71,213 with law enforcement upfits. The truck will be used by a DWI Task Force supervisor and is needed in part to tow trailers used for checkpoints and educational outreach.
County officials note that recent vehicle replacement funding has focused on higher-priority needs such as pursuit vehicles, the command center and SERT equipment – leaving this particular truck replacement to be handled through the specialized fund.
Forfeiture funds are stolen money, taken by force with no due process, placing the burden of proof on the accused rather than the state. If the sheriff’s department wants more toys, the proper course of action would be to go before the county commissioners and make the case for those toys.
Could not agree with you more. It is theft, pure and simple. It needs to end.
Who paid for those spiffy helmets?
None of this is necessary. In all my years of public service, a mobile command center has been no more than a glorified port-a-potty and on-site lounge for command staff. The most effective investigations were usually handled with no more than a couple port-a-potties on a trailer & some food served on folding tables while detectives & command staff worked from their already well equipped vehicles. Furthermore, according to a brief Granicus search looking back at previous agenda items, this was the same justification used to purchase a truck for SERT in 2024, they just seem to always want more & more. Maybe we should consider them a branch of the Guilford County Schools? None of these items or services are mandated by NCGS. Do you not find it interesting these seemingly significant requests show up just weeks before the end of the fiscal year, and mere months before an election? Your local gang of nine will claim they worked another BS 11th hour miracle to save the day while your Sheriff touts it was all funded by money taken from Thugalicious and A Pimp Named Slickback. SSDD.
As a child my parents taught me the differences between wants and needs. It has served me well during my 68 years of being financially responsible. I think it’s time our elected officials started practicing this as well. With all the wireless devices today I see no need for a large special equipped command center (bus/motorhome) when something smaller will work fine. It’s like which department has the biggest and best toys. I have noticed on occasion Sheriff’s Dept and Animal Control vehicles purchasing gas at a station on Mt. Hope Church Rd. They charge 40 cents to 60 cents per gallon more than two stations that are located on the same road just across the bridge ( 2 tenths of a mile ). The county may get a discount from the posted price but if not this isn’t good use of tax payers money.
Amen to that. I see the same gas lication and I think is that how I would spend your monies. I would not!
The sheriff is always outfitting his people that work directly under him with new vehicles, especially if you go to the sheriff’s church. He really looks out for the ones who go to his church and need a job
If you go to the sheriff’s church and he likes you, he will give you a “specialized” position whether you can pass a test or not. There are several so called “officers” that work under the sheriff that go to his church and he gives them titles they don’t deserve. There is one in particular over there that cannot pass a common sense test but instead of letting them go, the sheriff takes them in and makes sure it looks like they are working when in reality they are watching YouTube videos all day.
You can actualy learn a good bit of valuable information on the YouTube! My grandkiddos were showing me this guy last time we visited who likes to travel all across the country and share the experiences of the locals and show what local life looks like. They are so knowledgeable when it comes to regional differences in culture across the US all because of that one bright young man!
what happens when he doesn’t ‘like you’ ? that might be more significant ? they have to pray elsewhere ? they’re going to hell ? i’m trying to talk people out of ICE vehicles & onto bikes – kinda like evangelical religion ?
What happens when we don’t like him?
shaming & shunning is wut the irish do but it took the IRA & terrorism (unmorally) to drive the british soldiers & police (think vietnam) out of ireland. police have been ‘replaced’ violently & peacefully but NOT BY US. !