A consultant hired to weigh the pros and cons of removing the Broward Sheriff’s Office as the provider of law enforcement services at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades has found the plan “feasible,” but stopped short of an outright recommendation pending further study.
Losing the Broward Sheriff’s Office at the airport and seaport would mean creating new agencies that would answer to the county rather than the sheriff. But the consultants and Jensen and Hughes warned their study did not consider key questions that would need to be answered before the county makes such a crucial decision.
“The feasibility review did not examine or conclude whether the allocation of staff and its status, full-time, contracted or supplemental services, is sufficient to support a future vision of public safety at the Port,” authors of the study wrote in their executive summary of the Port Everglades report.
In a memo to county commissioners dated Tuesday, County Administrator Monica Cepero said the findings were similar for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The commission “could feasibly form a law enforcement agency to secure FLL,” Cepero wrote, referring to the airport. “Doing so would require various startup costs and a ramp-down of BSO personnel during the ramp-up of county law enforcement officers.”
To continue exploring the idea, Cepero advised the commission that even further study would be needed.
“The next phase would involve contracting a consulting firm for a Comprehensive Workload Analysis and Staffing Study,” she wrote. “This would provide far more detailed cost figures, project schedules and personnel counts.”
On social media, Sheriff Gregory Tony said the studies prove his agency is the more fiscally responsible choice.
“The studies were expected to reveal savings and cost efficiency, but instead projected the two transitions would cost about $440 million, compared with approximately $261.4 million to continue services with BSO,” he wrote. “The cost to taxpayers is significant — an approximate 68% increase, in addition to duplication of services, resources and bureaucracies.”
Cepero’s latest memo to the commission comes as members consider ending the 23-year-old merger of the Sheriff’s Office with Broward County Fire-Rescue, a unique arrangement uniting law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical response under one administrative roof.
The relationship between the county government and the Sheriff’s Office has been strained in recent years, with the sheriff accusing the county of failing to recognize the agency’s financial needs and the county accusing the Sheriff’s Office of not adequately justifying its ever-growing budget demands.
Last month, in a unanimous vote, the county chose to put an independent fire-rescue service on its Sept. 22 agenda. The move could be a signal the commission is seriously considering the change.
Earlier this year, the Sheriff’s Office appealed its 2026 budget allocation to the state, seeking to force the county to provide more than $73 million above the $833.9 million it provided.
The state has not ruled on the Sheriff’s Office’s demand, and the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
This year, the sheriff asked the county for a 12.4% budget increase. The county is set to pass a 5.3% increase later this month.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.