FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It was the height of the crack cocaine epidemic for the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
One tactic deployed by the department made headlines: manufacturing their own crack and having detention deputies pose as drug dealers out on the streets.
The drugs were made at the courthouse on the seventh floor.
The state Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the practice was outrageous and that those arrested should have their records cleared.
Now, more than 30 years later, Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor announced there could be thousands still on the hook, and the state has an obligation to fix it.
Raymond Hicks says he was one of those detention deputies turned undercover dealers.
“It didn’t sit right with me,” said Hicks. “Working in law enforcement, you’re saying, ‘How can a department manufacture their own drugs and give it to us to be sold in the street?’”
Attorney Ed Hoeg represented many of those arrested.
“Funny enough, it didn’t put a dent on the crack problem,” said Hoeg. “For 30 years now, these people have been convicted felons, so any time they go to apply for a job, any time they try to vote, they can’t vote.”
It’s not clear how long it might take to clear arrest records, but current Sheriff Gregory Tony is on board.
He told Local 10, in part:
“I find the actions of my predecessor to be a miscarriage of justice. Law enforcement officials must never become so desperate in our pursuit to apprehend criminals that we compromise our own integrity.”