During comments to the media last week amid an ongoing contract dispute with the City of Deerfield Beach, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony attempted to spin a cautionary tale about the Town of Pembroke Park. The town ended its contract with the Broward Sheriff’s Office and created its own police force in 2022.
“You cannot afford to play this political game and have the same ripple effect down in Pembroke Park where they're begging — some — for us to come back. We're answering the majority of their calls,” he said.
Pembroke Park Police Chief Daniel DeCoursey fired back at Tony’s claims.
“ His remarks not only mischaracterize our department, but also cast an unwanted shadow over the dedicated officers who work tirelessly to serve and protect the people and businesses in the neighborhoods of Pembroke Park,” he said.
READ MORE: As accusations fly, BSO and Deerfield Beach remain at impasse on police, fire-rescue contract
At a press conference at Pembroke Park Town Hall on Friday, he told reporters he reviewed data from the past four months.
“ We had over 5,302 calls for service and they assisted us 18 times, out of the calls we had for service, that's 0.34% of the total of our calls for service,“ he said.
Tony also claimed that Pembroke Park does not have enough resources and are unable to hire high quality officers. He added that they hired some officers who were fired from BSO for misconduct.
DeCoursey disputes that claim too.
“ It is true that several of our officers are former members of the Broward Sheriff's Office; however, they left voluntarily and in good standing through resignation and retirement and were not fired,” he said.
DeCoursey also said that his department was not lacking resources since the changeover from BSO. The town employs 19 sworn officers, and plans to employ two more in the next budget cycle. “ We're not seeing any increase in crime because Pembroke Park is providing police services here,” DeCoursey added.
Pembroke Park Town Manager David Lynch said that the town had benefitted from standing up their own police force.
“ It doesn't mean it's cheap, but it has been financially advantageous. The other reason for that is that we have sort of a local control over our own spending. If you're deferring to what's happening with the county, you really don't have the opportunity for local controlled spending,” he said.
Pembroke Park budgeted $3.3 million for law enforcement services in its fiscal year 2021 budget, the last year Pembroke Park paid for BSO services. In fiscal year 2025, the town is planning to allocate over $9 million to public safety.
When asked for a response to DeCoursey's remarks, BSO directed WLRN to the comments Tony made last week.
