Pompano Beach is next to consider ditching Sheriff’s Office

One city’s decision to cut its ties to the Broward Sheriff’s Office could mark the beginning of a long year for the county’s largest law enforcement agency.

In the wake of Deerfield Beach’s vote to replace the Sheriff’s Office with its own independent police and fire rescue services, neighboring Pompano Beach is anticipating a consultant’s report that will show whether it would be better off financially if it followed Deerfield’s example.

At the same time, the Broward County Commission authorized its own consultant to determine whether to relieve the Sheriff’s Office from law enforcement responsibility for Port Everglades and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The loss of either would be significant for an agency that now covers a dozen municipalities, including Deerfield Beach, along with unincorporated areas, the airport and the seaport.

The Sheriff’s Office also provides countywide services that include K-9, SWAT, marine patrol, training division, bomb detection and aviation, the courthouse and county jails.

Pompano Beach, with an estimated population of 118,000, is the largest city under contract with the Sheriff’s Office. It jettisoned its own police department in 1999 but has maintained its own fire rescue service. Last year, when Sheriff Gregory Tony pitched an annual contract increase of 16%, Pompano responded by commissioning a report on the cost of independence.

“Our report is expected to be before the commission for the Feb. 24 meeting,” said Pompano Beach Mayor Rex Hardin.

Before that, the consultants, Raftelis and the Center for Public Safety Management, will meet with each of Pompano’s five commissioners plus the mayor for one-on-one reviews. Commissioners are not allowed legally to discuss the project with each other except at public meetings under Florida law. The consultants were hired last July and took a little over six months to go over the costs and projected financial impact.

The same Center for Public Safety Management took less than two months to conclude Deerfield Beach would save somewhere between $250 million and $900 million over 20 years by going independent.

“That was very expeditious. I’ll say that,” Hardin said. “That seems very fast.”

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony has pitched increases from every agency that has a contract with the Sheriff’s Office, frequently citing the need to offer competitive salaries to deputies, maintain and upgrading vehicles and equipment and other costs of law enforcement. He chided the Deerfield Beach City Commission for rushing its decision and predicted the city would come to regret it.

“Every decision must be rooted in facts, not emotion or politics,” Tony said in a statement issued after the Deerfield vote. “BSO will continue to prioritize public safety over politics and serve with professionalism, integrity and excellence that the community deserves.”

Tony’s critics say he’s being unrealistic about governments’ ability to meet his demands.

“He doesn’t have to raise taxes,” said County Commissioner Steve Geller. “He doesn’t have to find money for parks and health and housing or anything else. Public safety is the most important thing we have to deal with, but it’s not the only thing.”

“I have not heard Deerfield or anyone else say he has done a bad job,” Geller said.

The problem, Geller said, is whether municipalities can shell out as much money as Tony is seeking to renew the Sheriff’s Office’s municipal contracts.

In its most recent budget, the Broward County Commission passed a 3% increase for the Sheriff’s Office, which now accounts for $833 million of the $1.8 billion general operating expenses. Tony had asked for a 9% hike, and he’s gone to the state government seeking to force the county to pony up.

In the northwest quadrant of Pompano Beach, meanwhile, residents and leaders are concerned that the Sheriff’s Office is not meeting their public safety needs.

Resident Tundra King, a former law enforcement officer, said the Sheriff’s Office has multiple advantages, including its SWAT team, bomb squad and detective bureau. But those advantages come at a cost. Deputies do not have the same quality of relationship with the community that a homegrown department would have, she said.

King’s perspective is not just hypothetical. In 1994, she was one of 12 officers hired by the city of Lauderhill when it broke off from the Broward Sheriff’s Office. She retired 10 years ago as a captain and former public information officer. “I truly believe we have been ignored in the northwest community by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.”

Beverly Perkins, the Pompano Beach commissioner who represents that area, agreed. “I’m very interested in community police. We don’t have that with BSO,” she said. “I’ve never been quiet about it. What we have with BSO is not working.”

Perkins said the consultants’ report, when it arrives, could convince her to stick with the Sheriff’s Office if it finds the alternative would not be financially responsible.

But she expects a result similar to what Deerfield Beach was told — a short-term outlay followed by years of savings that may prove too tempting to pass up.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.