A group of activists and religious leaders say thousands of Broward residents, mostly people of color, are being routinely sent to jail for minor, non-violent offenses by police officers who rarely use a countywide program to keep people from ending up behind bars.
For months, BOLD Justice, Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice, have been pressing top Broward County law enforcement officials, including Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor and Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, to use their powers to encourage more police officers to make better use of the Adult Civil Citation program. BOLD Justice is composed of more than two dozen religious organizations.
At a BOLD Justice conference in late March, BSO Sheriff Tony told the crowd — erroneously as it later turned out — that his deputies were screening those arrested for eligibility to the program, when asked by the group’s co-president Brian Anthony Campbell.
“Will you assign staff at intake to screen all adults arrested by BSO for a misdemeanor? And if they are eligible for a civil citation, offer them one instead of an arrest?” asked Campbell, a pastor with the 15th Street Church of Christ in Pompano Beach.
Responded Tony: “Yes, we already have.”
But WLRN later confirmed with a BSO spokesperson that the sheriff was referring to an entirely different program called Release on Recognizance — not the Adult Civil Citation Program.
Minor offenses, thousands of arrests
BOLD Justice activists say more than 14,000 people annually are arrested for minor offenses like shoplifting, loitering and marijuana possession, and that many could qualify for the civil citation program, which would keep them from going to jail. Just over 60 people have been referred to the program since October 2022.
Broward Sheriff's Office records show that fewer than 250 defendants have been referred to the civil citation program in the past four years. The program was mandated by a county ordinance in 2019.
The program gives law enforcement officers the option of issuing citations instead of making an arrest.
“We should not be arresting people for these minor offenses,” said Father Wilfredo Contreras, a San Isidro Catholic priest who is also part of BOLD Justice, said before the March 30 conference.
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BOLD Justice activists say law enforcement officers in Broward are failing to take advantage of a program that has been proven very successful in other Florida counties. They point to a similar program in Pinellas County that seeks to keep minor offenders out of jail has served 10 times more defendants than Broward.
The population of Pinellas County is about half of Broward's. Yet their numbers for their arrest diversion program dwarf Broward’s. In the past four years they have admitted 2,709 people.
“So there's something wrong in that picture," said Campbell. "What we're asking is that there's something that we need to fix, and we believe that is ensuring that someone is at intake to screen all adults arrested by BSO for a misdemeanor. And if they are eligible for civil citation, offer them one instead of an arrest."
Release on Recognizance
Last year, BSO partnered with Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter in Broward on a bail reform initiative. It allows some people arrested for misdemeanors to be released from jail without having to pay a cash bond. They must agree to return for a court date.
From May to December 2022, the Release on Recognizance program allowed more than 2,000 people to avoid jail.
Activists argue the ROR program is flawed because those arrested still have a record — unlike those in the civil citation program.
Colonel David Holmes, BSO’s director of law enforcement, acknowledged that some of those released on their own recognizance could have been referred to the civil citation program.
“It is possible, you would have to look at it on a case by case basis. And every now and then there may be a glitch in the system or a mix up with paperwork. That happens,” Holmes said.
Holmes told WLRN that Sheriff Tony is “looking at having another level where someone can screen” people arrested for misdemeanors to see if they are eligible for the adult civil citation program before they are booked into jail.
He also said the Broward State Attorney's office is encouraging local law enforcement agencies “to garner participation from those agencies.”
“The sheriff's office being the lead agency in Broward County, you know, it starts with us,” Holmes said.
A spokesman for Pryor told WLRN that the state attorney met with BOLD Justice activists and “promised to continue to encourage local law enforcement/police agencies to use and expand adult civil citation programs.”
The spokesman also stressed that it's police agencies — not prosecutors — that make the decision to issue adult civil citation or arrest a defendant.
“We're trying to help them to get what they need so that they don't come back into the system or that they don't make this mistake again,” said Tamica Gaynor who oversees the county's Justice Services division, which is focused on keeping people out of jail.
She said only certain misdemeanors qualify for the program and some people don't qualify because of previous convictions. And that only certain police departments in the county refer people to the program.
Gaynor wants to see it used more.
“They can do the program. They can still go to work and do their community service when they're not at work. But they have a time frame to do it. Because it's really easy for people who are good intentioned to give up when it comes to systems.”
BSO’s Tony met with Bold Justice last week and suggested the activist group lobby other police agencies to utilize the civil citation program as well. The group called the meeting “encouraging" — but says the sheriff's office still needs to do more.
