Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony: No-confidence vote allegations are ‘simply not true’
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony is making his case in an ongoing vote of no-confidence against him by the sheriff’s office deputies union. The vote was initiated after the union’s president was suspended with pay for advocating for more protective gear, his lawyer said.
On Thursday, BSO released Tony’s statement where he individually rejected 10 allegations that were made against him in a letter sent from the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association to its members calling for the vote on Tuesday.
Tony said the allegations against him were “simply not true” and others were “opinions and subjective at best.”
A few of the accusations were that Tony lied when he applied to be a Coral Springs police officer, has been firing deputies without due process, and violated the collective bargaining agreement reached with the police union to “suit his political objectives.”
To those claims Tony said he included all the appropriate disclosures on his application; disciplinary cases are handled following Florida law; and that he has followed the bargaining agreement that was ratified and touted that it “provided deputies with the largest raise in 25 years.”
The disagreements and disputes between Tony and the union have been ongoing for the past few months. They came to a climax when Jeff Bell, president of the deputies union, was suspended with pay on April 10 after making public comments on the sheriff’s office alleged lack of protective equipment for deputies while they are on the front lines of the virus.
He was officially suspended for corrupt practices, conduct unbecoming an employee, and violations of policy on truthfulness, employee statements and discretion by the sheriff’s office.
Concerns about not having enough personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic have been amplified after news that a Broward deputy, 39-year-old Shannon Bennett, was the first South Florida police officer to die of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Tony fought back on Bell’s claims of a lack of equipment in fiery press conference last week where he highlighted the steps that BSO has taken to protect its workers, including buying 25,263 N95 masks, 44,773 surgical masks and 4,109 sanitizers that can be refilled. He also referenced this in his Thursday statement.
“I know that every deputy has concerns about PPE, and some are wondering whether BSO will be able to continue to provide adequate PPE for the duration of the pandemic. The short answer is yes,” Tony said in the statement, adding that the department has spent $1.3 million to secure protective gear “necessary for the long haul.”
On Tuesday, members of the deputies union began casting ballots on the no-confidence measure. They will have until Monday to vote. The results of the vote will be announced April 20.
Among the allegations in the union’s letter, which was signed by union secretary and treasurer Frank Voudy, were claims that the sheriff’s office responded to requests for more hand sanitizer by asking if officers preferred bottles of hand sanitizer that had the BSO logo affixed on them. They also claimed that protective equipment kits that were delivered in “limited supply” were only being given to sergeants.
“If the information we are receiving is accurate, it is unconscionable that the delivery of desperately needed hand sanitizers would be delayed intentionally for political promotional reasons,” Voudy said in the letter.
The dispute between Bell and Tony did not end there. On Wednesday, Bell sued Tony and is asking the court to stop BSO’s internal affairs investigation, to reinstate him as a deputy and to bar Tony and BSO from punishing a sitting union president for voicing opinions that criticize the sheriff’s office.
“Anyone can criticize the sheriff; he is a political figure,” Robert Buschel, Bell’s attorney, told the Herald Wednesday. “He has to run for office and is running for office. So to single out the president of the union because you have power over him is wrong.”
In Thursday’s statement, Tony also said Fire Rescue staff is now meeting with any deputy who requires protective equipment for a call for service that requires it can receive a full kit with protective equipment, courtesy of the Fire Rescue division.
He also touted his department’s progress in filling vacancies, promoting deputies and creating active shooter protocols.
“When I arrived at BSO, my top priority was and still is, to have the best-trained, best-equipped, and most-respected law enforcement agency in Florida and the country,” he said.
