{"id":6503,"date":"2025-10-16T12:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/6503\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T12:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:57:07","slug":"broward-countys-public-safety-is-not-just-a-line-item","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/6503\/","title":{"rendered":"Broward County\u2019s public safety is not just a line item"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why does the Broward County Commission fail to make public safety a priority for Broward County?<\/p>\n

Our neighbors to the north, in Palm Beach County, and to the south, in Miami-Dade County, have worked with their law enforcement agencies to secure the funding necessary to protect their residents by ensuring these agencies have the resources needed to recruit, train and retain qualified first responders.<\/p>\n

That is not the case in Broward County. By statute, county governments fund sheriff\u2019s offices. For seven consecutive years, as sheriff, I have submitted responsible and transparent budgets that reflected the real costs of keeping this county safe. And for seven straight years, the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office (BSO) has been denied full funding by the Broward County Commission.<\/p>\n

\"GregoryGregory Tony is the sheriff of Broward County.<\/p>\n

This year, BSO requested an increase of $79.4 million from the Broward County Commission, which includes funding for much needed pay increases for the men and women who serve this community. This includes deputies, firefighter\/paramedics, investigators, crime analysts, 911 operators and many other critical public safety roles.<\/p>\n

The increases were presented to the County Commission after a thorough and independent pay study placed BSO third from the bottom in compensation for public safety professionals in the South Florida region. This poor standing has strained BSO\u2019s ability to recruit and retain the talented first responders needed to keep Broward safe. Yet despite these facts, the Broward County Commission has said no to pay raises for public safety professionals and approved only<\/a> a $22.8 million (3%) increase. To put their decision into perspective, this year the Palm Beach County Commission funded the Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office more than their requested budget<\/a>, resulting in a $116 million (13%) increase. The Miami-Dade County Commission provided its new Sheriff\u2019s Office with its fully requested budget<\/a>, allowing for a $93 million (11%) increase.<\/p>\n

The Broward County Commission\u2019s continued failure to fully fund public safety doesn\u2019t just strain our personnel; it endangers our residents. BSO has some of the best trained, highly qualified personnel in the state. The County Commission\u2019s refusal to fund fair salaries and new positions has forced BSO to compete with better-funded neighboring agencies for talent, leaving our communities vulnerable when highly trained, experienced first responders leave for better compensation elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis handout from the Broward Sheriff’s Office shows the requested budget increases from South Florida sheriff’s departments and what was approved by county commissions. (courtesy, BSO)<\/p>\n

As your sheriff, I will not stand idly by and watch this happen, nor will I wait for another tragedy to occur before action is taken. Every delay in funding the essential tools and personnel our deputies and firefighters need directly impacts our community\u2019s safety and well-being. My duty is to protect this county and to speak the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.<\/p>\n

As a last resort and in accordance with Florida law, I am now forced to appeal the underfunded budget the County Commission has imposed on BSO to the state Administration Commission on behalf of the two million people who call Broward County home. Under a 2021 law<\/a>, this commission, which includes the governor and his Cabinet, can reconsider underfunded public safety budgets, and its decision is final.<\/p>\n

This is not a political decision; it is a matter of public safety. Our residents deserve the same commitment to protection and preparedness that neighboring counties have long embraced.<\/p>\n

For the past seven years, BSO has managed to do more with less, serving nearly two million residents while operating one of the most comprehensive sheriff\u2019s offices in the country. As a full-service public safety organization, BSO integrates law enforcement, fire rescue, detention, 911 communications and a host of regional and administrative services under one umbrella. But, there are limits to what can be done when Broward County leadership continues to withhold critical funding. The men and women of the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office stand ready to serve. All I ask is that Broward County\u2019s leadership supports them. Broward County deserves better. The time for excuses and delays is over. The time for action is now.<\/p>\n

Gregory Tony is the sheriff of Broward County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why does the Broward County Commission fail to make public safety a priority for Broward County? Our neighbors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[483,249,251,250,114,482],"class_list":{"0":"post-6503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-commentary","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","11":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-opinion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}