NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — The battle between Broward County leaders and Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony continues as the county mayor made plans to see in person how the Broward Sheriff’s Office spends its budget.
Broward County officials launched an investigation into how Tony is spending money at the BSO on Friday, after the sheriff announced on social media that he was suspending negotiations over the office’s $850 million budget.
“We want accountability, we want transparency, and we want to make sure the money is being spent appropriately,” said Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen.
This came on the heels of a vote to pull the county fire rescue out of BSO control and a discussion suggesting the possibility of looking elsewhere when it comes to public safety at the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.
“This man’s whole m.o., his whole modus operandi, is to attack, attack, attack until people give in,” said Bogen. “He’s got the wrong person with me.”
On Monday, Bogen said, he plans to show up to the BSO Research, Development and Training Center, a center reportedly receiving a major investment from the total budget.
“I was aware there was a gym, and I know we did an audit, but I never realized what kind of excess was there,” the mayor said. “I want to see it for myself — and we own the building, he’s just a tenant there — and my commissioners are also going to show up. We all want to go in.”
The mayor may not make it into the center easily, though.
“He has said that he’s not going to let us in,” Bogen said of the sheriff. “And so, if he doesn’t let us in our own building to go to the gym — we’re not talking about anywhere else, we’re just talking about the gym, the workout room, everything that has to do with that area — if he doesn’t let us in, we already have an emergency meeting set up Tuesday at 9 o’clock. We’ve given notice to everybody and that we will have an agenda item to take legal action.”
While county commissioners say Tony has not been transparent with his budget allocations, the sheriff argues all BSO audits are on public display on the department’s website.
“They perpetrate one lie after the next,” said Tony.
While the BSO has said it will not discuss details connected to the investigation under the consultation of legal counsel, Tony took to social media with a video on Friday.
“Mr. Bogen, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Udine decide they’re going to stand in front of a camera and fire shots at me, and claim that BSO is participating in mismanaging funds and corruptions and that they don’t have any idea of what we’ve done in our training center, which we launched two years ago,” Tony said. “I said this before, and I guess they’re not listening and learning. We keep every receipt in this agency. They claim they don’t understand what was expended inside the training center. They already did this hit piece attack back in 2024.”
On Saturday, Tony posted another video, stating: “Public safety is not a joke. This commission is deliberately tearing apart the largest public safety organization in our state.”
The sheriff continued to post throughout the weekend, calling out the county commission.
On Sunday, he posted a video defending the use of the training center, including endorsements from law enforcement.
A voiceover in the video says, “The Research, Development and Training Center. Built to prepare first responders for the moments when lives depend on their actions.”
Tony is a constitutional officer, meaning he has no strong legal obligation to comply with the county’s request beyond a public information request, and he can spend his own budget how he sees fit.
A BSO spokesperson told 7News they have established a cone of silence regarding any ongoing investigation by county commissioners.
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