NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) – Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony is speaking out after the President of the Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Association criticized the way he has handled the coronavirus outbreak.
Tony held a media conference Tuesday morning and seemed visibly upset about the accusations that have been brought forward.
“For any rogue employee to come off and present these comments that we have failed this community and failed the men and women that we are leading is despicable,” said Tony, “but we cannot move forward in this community and focus on the things we need to do so as long as we’re going to allow someone to actually violate not only our policies but violate decency.”
Over the weekend, the president of the Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Association, Jeff Bell, wrote a letter that was published by the SunSentinel saying deputies do not have enough personal protective equipment and do not have the tools needed to do their job efficiently.
Shortly after the media conference, Bell said, “It’s an embarrassment that the sheriff feels the need to call a press conference to accuse an employee of being rogue. I think it’s disgusting there. We have no political play whatsoever. Nobody is running for a political office, nor do we seek any political office, so there cannot be a political gain for this union myself or anyone else that I work with here at this union office.”
Tony also said from February 1 through April 6, the department has dispersed over 25,263 N95 masks, 44,000 surgical masks and more than 4,000 bottles of refillable hand sanitizer to first responders.
“To personalize this and to abuse the trust that these 1,400 or so deputies have put in him as the union president is despicable,” said Tony. “I will tell everyone in this community, as I’ve told my men and women and given them marching orders, we will spend every dime of this agency to protect this community and the men and women on the front line. We will not come up short and penny pinch during a time of crisis.”
However, Bell said he has heard otherwise from deputies.
“I have emails as recent as [Monday] night and [Tuesday] morning from sergeants telling me, ‘Jeff, I still only have three PPE kits per sergeant’s vehicle, and if a deputy needs a PPE kit, they must call the sergeant, and we have to respond to the location of the call,'” Bell said.
Tony said concerning PPE, all employees have it, and if they need more it is handled on an individual basis.
Also at the conference, Tony confirmed 36 employees of the Broward Sheriff’s Department have tested positive for the virus and hundreds of others have been affected.
On Friday, the department lost a 12-year veteran of the force, 39-year-old Shannon Bennett, who died due to complications from COVID-19. His family announced Tuesday they will honor the deputy with a private ceremony.
“They took his death and politicized this thing,” Tony said. “It’s not only dishonorable, it’s unnecessary.”
Following the deputy’s death, Tony said he reached out to Bell but to no avail.
“When we called to invite him, he didn’t show up, and he didn’t answer his phone, but he would write a letter,” Tony said.
“I had turned the ringer off during the night because the text messages and phone calls were coming in like crazy, and it was waking up the family,” Bell said. “I forgot to turn it back on.”
Three hundred BSO employees are currently being monitored for the virus, Tony said.
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