![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SteveBousquetSunSentineljpg.jpg\")
Steve Bousquet is a Sun Sentinel columnist.<\/p>\nEight years ago, one of Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 first acts changed the course of history in Broward County \u2014 for worse. He suspended Sheriff Scott Israel and replaced him with unheard-of and unvetted Gregory Tony, a disastrous downgrade that reverberates to this day.<\/p>\n
The outrageously combative Tony has been elected twice over token opposition. He has made a premier law enforcement agency a symbol of wildly reckless overspending and a platform for his social media tirades against elected officials. Today\u2019s BSO is better known for Tony\u2019s workout videos than for the heroic work of its thousands of dedicated men and women.<\/p>\n
Steve Bousquet is a Sun Sentinel columnist.<\/p>\n
His relations with the county are at an all-time low. Commissioners are working to dismantle the agency, piece by piece, to extricate him from the seaport, airport, fire-rescue operations and 911 dispatch centers. I\u2019ve written about this agency since the 1970s Ed Stack era, and this is a level of dysfunction and hostility unmatched in Broward\u2019s modern history.<\/p>\n
Now, as DeSantis departs, even he criticizes his appointee\u2019s overspending as a reason why tax relief is needed with Amendment 3. At a roundtable in Miami<\/a> on Wednesday, DeSantis mocked Tony, by inference, for putting<\/a>\u00a0a cold plunge<\/a> in the sheriff\u2019s training center.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not giving a grant so they can do a cold plunge in Broward,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cI\u2019m not giving a grant for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Governor DeSantis calls out Broward Sheriff Greg Tony for paying some of his COs over $400,000 then crying poor.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Broward County is gonna pay some guy running their jail $430,000 or whatever they’re paying him. Look, I mean people can get what they get. But don’t do that and\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/rs2JNOdIjo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Nelson \ud83c\udfdd\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@ReOpenChris) October 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n DeSantis also said: \u201cBroward County is going to pay some guy running their jail $430,000, or whatever they\u2019re paying him? Don\u2019t do that and then tell me you can\u2019t give relief.\u201d<\/p>\n The jail is enormously costly, with hundreds of jobs. It has always been a core function of the sheriff, but there are now whispers that the county may also want to turn that over to a different provider \u2014 possibly Fort Lauderdale Police. It will likely never happen, but the fact that it\u2019s even being speculated about is meant to further antagonize Tony \u2014 another sign of political toxicity.<\/p>\n The drama shows no sign of ending.<\/p>\n Tony sent elaborately armed deputies to deliver subpoenas<\/a> to county commissioners for a still-unexplained \u201cinvestigation\u201d by a statewide prosecutor under Attorney General James Uthmeier, which looked like a stunt to cause embarrassment.<\/p>\n That would be a dangerous abuse of police resources.<\/p>\n The sheriff then blocked Broward Mayor Mark Bogen from entering BSO, a public building, to tour the county-funded training center. Outrageous.<\/p>\n The sheriff then ridiculed Commissioner Lamar Fisher on social media (\u201cWhat does an auctioneer know about public safety?\u201d he asked). Tony accused commissioners of clear \u201ccorruption\u201d for wanting to strip 911 centers from BSO.<\/p>\n Both posts came down, but the damage was done.<\/p>\n DeSantis has suspended public officials for much less than this, but the popular view is that he would never suspend Tony because it would make the governor look like a rank hypocrite after appointing Tony.<\/p>\n But what if Republican Byron Donalds wins on Nov. 3 and becomes governor?<\/p>\n Donalds will lose Broward County to Democrat David Jolly by a wide margin (a safe prediction).<\/p>\n But Donalds, who spent part of Wednesday campaigning on Las Olas Boulevard, will be eager to build a political operation in Florida\u2019s bluest county if he wins.<\/p>\n The most efficient way to do that is to gain control of Broward\u2019s most powerful office: Sheriff. That is not likely to happen in an election, but it could, by appointment. Donalds, like Tony, is Black, so removing the sheriff would not be seen as racially motivated.<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s not likely. As governor, Donalds would face hundreds of challenges more pressing than this, and he\u2019s not by nature a confrontational figure like DeSantis.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s no denying that the path to a stronger Republican Party in Broward runs right through the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The County Commission deferred action Tuesday on a proposal to take over 911 call centers from the sheriff. No explanation was given, but the issue will be back after the election.<\/p>\n Before deferring the item, the county attached an anoynmous eight-page letter<\/a> that purported to be from a 911 employee, who described a climate of fear at BSO where workers, including\u00a0 minority women, must expose tattoos on any part of their body, to be photographed for ID purposes. By circulating the letter, the county made sure its contents became public.<\/p>\n Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com<\/a> or (954) 860-5181.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-23-083353.jpg\")
On social media, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony decried “the level of corruption” on the County Commission, then took the post down. But the Sun Sentinel obtained it (Facebook)<\/p>\n