DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — Deerfield Beach may be moving even closer to severing its long-standing ties with the Broward Sheriff’s Office for its police and fire service.
The city could potentially reconstitute the Deerfield Beach Police Department, which folded into BSO in 1990. BSO has contracts to patrol several cities in the county in lieu of a municipal police department, including Oakland Park, Tamarac and neighboring Pompano Beach.
BSO was a major topic during the Deerfield Beach City Commission meeting Monday night, with contract negotiations dominating the discussion. The debate has been ongoing for months and has grown heated.
Residents voiced their frustration.
“This temperature was raised, was raised, over raised by Sheriff Tony,” one woman said.
“Due to this back and forth it is really putting a black eye on this city,” another resident added.
BSO Maj. Christopher De Giovanni addressed commissioners directly, making a final pitch.
“I ask tonight the commission that the mayor and commission make a motion to call a special meeting, at the special meeting accept one of the revised considerations, options provided to the city,” De Giovanni said.
It’s been a very public and nasty back-and-forth between city leaders and Sheriff Gregory Tony.
“We have a 92% satisfactory rate countywide…you tell me if I should go absolutely nuclear on this and destroy (the city manager)?” Tony said in an Aug. 7 address to deputies.
The city’s mayor then pushed back, saying: “It’s quite disappointing to be honest with you for the sheriff to be using that language to the city, quite frankly, it’s counterproductive.”
Despite the tense exchange, the city passed its budget Monday with no modifications, fueling speculation that ties with BSO may be cut.
Still, city spokeswoman Rebecca Medina Stewart said nothing is set in stone.
“Anything is possible, conversations can still happen,” she said.
Tony has argued deputies deserve higher pay based on a recent salary study, and BSO presented three contract options to the city.
One option, Tony said, would save money without cutting staff. But city leaders say the proposals would still put the city over its cap.
“We will not agree to any costs that go above a 5% increase, so this is where we are at,” Medina Stewart said.
What a transition would look like if the city ends its 35-year relationship with BSO remains unclear ― and officials said nothing would happen quickly.
There would be workshops, community meetings and the possibility of either bringing back DBPD or merging services with another city.
Pembroke Park is the most recent agency to end contract policing with BSO. It formed its own police department in 2022.
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