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NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) – The Broward Sheriff’s Office is conducting their weekly distribution of personal protective equipment to deputies in Fort Lauderdale.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony attended the event at the Public Safety Building, at 2601 W. Broward Blvd., Friday morning.
“This was a quick reminder to the community that we are constantly ahead of the curve in terms of making sure we procure the necessary equipment, and that we have a plan in place to make sure we disperse it out, not only quickly, but in a responsible manner,” Tony said.
7News cameras were there when the department received another shipment of equipment at around noon.
Deputies waited in their vehicles as BSO personnel wearing gloves and masks placed the boxes of PPE in the backseats of their cars.
Tony said 20,000 masks will be handed out throughout the day.
As of Friday, 59 employees within the department have tested positive for COVID-19, while 226 are not working and being monitored for the virus.
So far, 284 BSO employees have already recovered and have returned to work.
The sheriff was recently criticized by Jeff Bell, the president of the Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Association, for not getting deputies PPE fast enough, leaving deputies unprotected. Tony said the union is politicizing the coronavirus crisis.
“There has been some comments made about whether or not we’re prepared from the union president, but when you look collectively at what we’ve been able to disperse, I talked the other day that we had already pushed out 25,000 high-quality N95 masks in conjunction with roughly 45,000 surgical masks. It’s my goal and our command staff’s goal to not become complacent,” said Tony.
“The deputies are starting to get more equipment now based on the pressure that we’ve been putting on the sheriff’s office, but we are far behind the curve,” Bell said.
Tony said the department has already spent $1.3 million on PPE so far and is willing to spend another $10 million to make sure that deputies within the department have the protection they need.
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