PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - The City of Pembroke Park has partnered with the Broward Sheriff’s Office to protect their citizens since to 1980, but the town now wants their own police department.
There will be a four-month gap until that police department is up and running.
“I don’t know what would happen if we had a serious incident in this town on Oct. 2 or Oct. 1, and I don’t want to find out,” said City Attorney Melissa Anderson.
On Sept. 30, the Town of Pembroke Park’s contract with BSO, the agency that protects the city, will expire.
City leaders said the town’s new police department might not be ready until February.
Matt Cowart, the president of the International Union of Police Associations. Some of the deputies who patrol Pembroke Park are members.
He said any period of time without a police department is risky.
“I think it’s a huge safety concern. Absolutely, I think it’s a safety concern,” Cowart said.
The town’s mayor, Geoffrey Jacobs, said BSO should continue to let them go month to month until the department is ready.
“This is about money, money, it’s about how much they can get out of Pembroke Park and not serve our residents in our community,” Jacobs said.
The town’s attorney wants to sign a deal with BSO for one year then immediately terminate it, which would take six months, covering Pembroke Park through February.
“He should have renewed it, and he could have have taken her advice on it,” Cowart said.
But he didn’t.
“I think continuing any contract with the sheriff’s department is a disservice to the town of Pembroke Park,” Jacobs said.
The new department, which is scheduled to open in February, has a command staff of three employees when it begins serving the community, which is expected to be in February.
On Oct. 1, the town of 6,000 will have access to 911 but little else.
Deputies will respond, but it could take longer.
When fellow commissioners pointed that out, Jacobs pushed back harder.
“We will find something,” Jacobs said. “I’ve proven myself. We will find something.”
When asked how the decision will affect the town, Pembroke Park Police Chief David Howard said, “I don’t know what to tell you, vice mayor. I think we’ll be OK. I’m very confident we can open really early, but there’s going to be a gap. It’s going to be several weeks.”
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony released the following statement:
“The Town of Pembroke Park officials desire to have a police department of their own, and we want them to succeed in that endeavor. The proposed start date for this department has changed multiple times, but the most recent date the Town has announced is Feb. 1, 2023. However, the current agreement between BSO and the Town for police services expires on Sept. 30, 2022, leaving a potential lapse in critical police services until the Town’s department is operational. To avoid such a lapse, BSO presented its standard contract to the Town for consideration. “
In his statement, Tony claimed Jacobs has made false claims about BSO failing to respond to calls from the town.
“Mayor Jacobs has made numerous false claims that BSO deputies failed to respond to 21% of the calls for service in the Town. These false statements were based upon a complete and incomprehensible misunderstanding by the Mayor and the Town’s police chief of data from a consultant’s report prepared at the Town’s request. Despite BSO providing Mayor Jacobs with the correct interpretation of the consultant’s report, the Mayor has blindly continued to repeat his false claims to justify his decision to end BSO’s decades-long service to the residents of the Town.”
A resident who was asked if, as a mother living in the town, is concerned by this, she answered, “Yes.”
Howard and the mayor are confident they can get the department open faster and estimate it would be six weeks.
Meanwhile, the BSo deputies who patrol this town will be reassigned on Oct. 1.
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