BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony didn’t have a response about the no-confidence ballot officially opened by the Broward branch of the International Union of Police Associations on Tuesday, but now he’s firing back with a response in the form of a lengthy letter to his deputies.
On Monday, the union sent an email to its members saying in part, “While the sheriff has chosen to muzzle and threaten us, rather than work with us, the union cannot sit back and watch the safety of the membership be jeopardized for what appears to us to be political reasons.”
In the letter, the group cites several reasons for the vote, including allegations that Tony lied about his career, that he over exaggerated his experience as a law enforcement officer, and that he has fired deputies without due process.
In his Thursday response letter, Tony touts his leadership, writing: “Since arriving in January of 2019, we have increased training for all deputies, provided rifles and new vests, and granted the highest pay raise in 25 years.”
He also includes commendations from his former police department, Coral Springs, and other supporting documents that prove his job as an adjunct professor.
On the issue of protective gear to protect deputies and others on the force working during the coronavirus crisis, he says the department began purchasing PPE early in February.
"Since that time, we have been delivering PPE weekly to the districts as well as the department of detention, fire rescue and others."
This comes on the heels, however, of an ongoing dispute between Tony and union president Jeff Bell, who was an outspoken critic of Tony especially in how the top cop had handled PPE. Bell said publicly it wasn’t good enough. The two have sparred verbally, each accusing the other of choosing politics over leadership during the pandemic.
Bell was suspended from the force with pay on April 10 over what the BSO said in a statement was related to an internal affairs investigation regarding “violations of BSO policies and procedures,” but his attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said the suspension was for Bell calling out the sheriff publicly regarding complaints from deputies about a lack of personal protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
There was also criticism over hand-sanitizer personalized with Tony’s name that was allegedly not delivered as quickly as it would have been had it not needed a custom label affixed to it.
It’s been almost two years since BSO deputies voted no confidence against Sheriff Scott Israel in the fallout of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre. Israel was later removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis and replaced by Tony.
With that vote opening Tuesday, union members have until next Monday afternoon to cast their ballots.
Tony disputes falsehoods
In his letter response, Tony addresses allegations made against him in the call for a vote of no confidence saying that they "were simply not true."
He lists what he notes as false accusations, then follows up with why he believes the points are inaccurate.
FALSE: Greg Tony lied on his original job application to the Coral Springs Police Department, stating on that application that he had never been arrested and had not received moving citations in the recent past.
When I applied to Coral Springs Police Department I completed my FDLE application and included all appropriate disclosures, (see 11/14/2005 FDLE Background report).
FALSE: Coral Springs Police Sergeant Greg Tony displayed questionable judgment when he recklessly fired his gun.
I received the Meritorious Police Duty Commendation for the incident, acknowledging a prudent and heroic act where a hazard, risk of injury, or death to the nominee or other existed. (see 11/30/2015 Meritorious Police Duty Commendation Case#15-1662).
FALSE: Greg Tony completely fabricated his having held the rank of “commander” at Coral Springs. A Coral Springs response to a Public Records request revealed that untruthfulness.
I was selected to serve as the Field Force Commander in 2016.
FALSE: Greg Tony appears to have fabricated his status as an Adjunct Criminal Justice Professor at Strayer and Phoenix universities, as a request for records to those institutions shows he IS NOT an Adjunct Criminal Justice.
I served as an Adjunct Criminal Justice Professor at both Strayer College and Phoenix University (he provided W-2 statements as supporting documents).
FALSE: Greg Tony completely fabricated claims to have been the creator of policies at the Coral Springs Police Department that lead to 14 additional lives being saved at MSD. A response from Coral Springs to a Public Records request advised that Greg Tony had no involvement with any policies that were implemented during the MSD tragedy.
I developed training and policy in regards to active shooter training while at CSPD (see 11/30/2015 Administrative Service Commendation for Active Shooter Research).
FALSE: Greg Tony had only 10 years and 10 months law enforcement experience when he was appointed Sheriff; not the 15 years he stated he had on the Jim Defede show. (And 2 full years were in a probationary status; one year as a brand new officer, and one year as a brand new sergeant).
I have worked with law enforcement for over 15 years.
FALSE: Sheriff Greg Tony has been summarily firing law enforcement Deputies without due process and in violation of Florida Law.
All disciplinary cases for deputies are handled in accordance with Florida law, BSO policies and procedures, and the collective bargaining agreement.
FALSE: Sheriff Greg Tony is intent on firing employees who have been “EXONERATED” of administrative charges: which is subject of a pending Unfair Labor Practice being decided by the Public Employees Relations Commission.
Pursuant to BSO policy and the collective bargaining agreement, the Professional Standards Committee makes recommendations on discipline, but the Sheriff is the final decision maker.
FALSE: Sheriff Greg Tony has forced Deputies to choose between asserting their Constitutional rights or keeping their job during criminal cases.
The disciplinary process ensures that deputies are provided all of the due process required by law. No deputy has been forced to choose between asserting a constitutional right and keeping their jobs while facing criminal charges.
FALSE: Sheriff Greg Tony disregards our Collective Bargaining Agreement to suit his political objectives.
I have honored the collective bargaining agreement with IUPA. Since I took office, IUPA has filed one unfair labor practice charge which challenged a change in procedure made by the prior administration. That charge is still pending. Since I took office, a collective bargaining agreement was ratified by the union which, among other things, provided deputies with the largest raise in 25 years, which is in stark contrast to the union’s declared impasse during negotiations with the prior administration.
The Broward IUPA letter
To All Members,
The Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association needs to advise its members of a very important issue, and needs the guidance of its membership regarding this issue. We ask that you take the time to read the following.
As you are aware, President Jeff Bell has been temporarily suspended by Sheriff Greg Tony. We will not discuss any details but the Union is fully committed to defending what we believe to be an attempt to limit free and protected speech.
For several weeks, the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association Executive Board received numerous complaints and concerns from the membership and District Representatives over the lack of protective equipment being provided by the Agency to help keep us safe as we face potential exposures to the Coronavirus every time we respond to calls for service in Broward County.
On March 16th 2020, the Union reached out to the Sheriff and shared with him your concerns, only to receive a response that if the Union expressed these concerns publicly, that “any inaccurate statements relating to the topic of BSO’s failure to provide adequate supplies for its employee’s WILL result in disciplinary action.”
The very next day after our letter to the Sheriff, on March 17th 2020 the first set of 3M masks were sent to the Districts for the intended distribution to each Deputy of one (1) mask.
The Union continued to receive calls and text messages from our members over the shortage of masks. They were severe enough that the Union purchased one thousand four hundred (1,400) 3M-N95 masks, and emailed the Sheriff our offer to donate them to the Sheriff’s Office so that each Deputy could be distributed an additional mask to the one (1) the Agency issued.
To date, the Union has gotten NO RESPONSE FROM THE SHERIFF, which regrettably has been a consistent experience with him, as it is now more than 400 days since the Sheriff has had any face to face communication with the Union over ANY of his law enforcement deputies’ and sergeants’ concerns.
We are at a loss to understand why the Sheriff will not even respond to an offer for free equipment in order to keep his Deputies safe and possibly “alive” under this pandemic threat.
Thanks to Major Dunbar, the Union was able to donate these items to the Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday April 8th but the Sheriff himself has never answered our email.