The Pembroke Park Police chief is taking issue with some comments made by Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony over public safety.
During a press conference on Wednesday, where Tony talked about his ongoing talks with the City of Deerfield Beach, Tony cited Pembroke Park Police Department as an example in where, he said, following the town’s 2022 split from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, BSO deputies are responding to more calls than Pembroke Park Police does in their town.
“Down in Pembroke Park, you know what’s happening down there? BSO is picking up the volume of the calls because they don’t have enough police officers, they don’t have enough resources and the quality of the officers, to them, they are hiring are some people that we’ve fired for misconduct,” said Tony.
Days after those comments, Pembroke Park Police Chief Daniel Decoursey took issue with that framing and released a statement where he called those comments “disparaging” and “false.”
The chief added that Tony’s comments were offensive and untrue.
“It was very hurtful. I’m an old Broward Sheriff’s [Office] guy, OK? That’s my home agency. He had hurt,” said Decoursey.
He also rebuked Tony for his comments on the police officers who were hired by Pembroke Park.
“At the same token, I know that all these men and women that I have, I have great people, and it’s not fair to paint these people with a brush. Those aren’t the same people today. We have good people here. We have people who are dedicated,” said Decoursey.
Decoursey said that his police department does work together with BSO deputies as well as with other surrounding agencies, but that it isn’t true that BSO deputies do most of the police work in Pembroke Park.
“[From May to August,] We had over 5,302 calls for service. [BSO] assisted us 18 times out of the calls we had for service. That’s 0.34% of total of our calls for service,” he said.
This dust-up comes amid ongoing negotiations between BSO and the City of Deerfield Beach over pay raises.
According to Deerfield Beach officials, Tony wants BSO deputies in Deerfield Beach to get a 10% pay increase, despite them agreeing to a 5% increase.
Due to this standoff, Deerfield Beach officials said the city received a termination notice from the sheriff, ceasing services on Sept. 30.
Deerfield Beach Mayor Rodney Brimlow said that breaking away from BSO and creating their own police department, like Pembroke Park, is on the table.
At the Wednesday press conference, Tony reiterated the importance of BSO to the City of Deerfield Beach.
“If this game is played in Deerfield Beach, people will die because of this,” he said.
But Tony appeared to place the blame for stalled negotiations on Deerfield Beach City Manager Rodney Brimlow, who is a retired BSO deputy.
“You tell me if I should go absolutely nuclear on this and destroy him, because I have the power of this office to do a lot of damage to individuals, but I have safeguard and protected my personal temperament,” said Tony in a video posted to social media.
Those comments prompted Brimlow to work from home for a few days.
“Based upon the call, the roll call that the sheriff had, that [the city manager] has elected to work remote for the time being,” said Drosky.
Tony said members of law enforcement crafted a letter expressing a vote of no confidence in Brimlow, but the director of the Broward Fraternal Order of Police said that didn’t happen.
“And there was no vote of no confidence. So I asked him to ask you to retract that letter,” said Director Andrew Laframboise. “FOP is a member-driven organization and the members, especially on something of that magnitude, decide the vote.”
Laframboise suggests that moving forward, BSO and Deerfield Beach should reach an agreement without dragging people into the mud.
“The sheriff’s department and the City of Deerfield Beach need to go back to the table. Negotiate there. Don’t negotiate in public and slander people’s names, and go back and forth because all it does is a disservice to the community it serves and the morale of that agency that they use,” he said.