By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org
Raise your hand if you remember the Port Everglades Authority.
Ok. Thought so.
It’s been 33 years since Broward voters overwhelmingly approved shutting down the independent authority, disbanding its embarrassing governing board of commissioners and turning control of the port over to the county. The straw that broke the port authority: news of seven gold and diamond rings purchased with public monies and presented to each commissioner by then-port director Joel Alesi.
On Monday, Broward Sheriff “Dr.” Gregory Tony announced on his personal Instagram account that he’d handed out luxurious gold rings, topped with a sheriff’s gold star set against an emerald green backdrop that’s surrounded with a layer of what look like small diamonds, to the members of his executive command staff. “Ring of Champions: Leadership is a Team Sport,” Tony wrote.
“I am honored to present each of my Executive Directors with a BSO Commander’s Ring – a symbol of the victories we’ve achieved together. Just like championship rings in sports, these represent our collective hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence.”
How Tony defines ‘executive director’ is unclear. BSO’s website currently lists 39 members of Tony’s “executive command staff,” from Undersheriff Nichole Anderson to Deputy General Counsel Lee Futch. Who, exactly, got a ring?
CHANGING HIS TUNE
Two weeks earlier, you’ll recall, Tony wasn’t singing his command staff’s praises. At a press conference about the horrific triple homicide in Tamarac, the sheriff broadly excoriated the uniformed road patrol deputies and detectives that some of those commanders supervise. On the morning of Feb. 16, those officers “fell short,” Tony said, by failing to protect Mary Gingles from what they knew – from numerous police calls for service and court restraining orders — was an apparently vengeful husband. Nathan Gingles is now in jail, charged with killing her, her father and a neighbor who tried to help her.
“I’m going to send the fear of God amongst this entire agency to make damn sure we don’t do this again because this, this death is on my watch,” an angry Tony said at the press conference. Presumably, Sheriff Tony intends to deliver that fear via the May 1 start-up of COMPSTAT, the police accountability system that blends statistics and top-down pressure on police commanders in order to push down crime rates. The last time BSO tried that it didn’t end well.
At the end of his announcement about the commanders’ rings, Tony added a “Hater disclaimer. No tax dollars or government funds were used to purchase these awards.”
Tony, however, did not say whose funds did pay for the rings. Specific questions sent to BSO’s media relations office – Who paid for the rings? How much did they cost? What gold and jewels are in them? How many were made? Did Tony get one? Was anything given in return for the rings? – by Florida Bulldog went unanswered.
In photographs posted by the sheriff, the rings appear to be made of gold.
The Sheriff’s Policy Manual generally makes it a no-no for deputies or non-sworn employees to accept gifts. Here’s the policy statement:
“The public we serve has every right to expect the highest ethical standards from all employees at all times. It is the intent of this policy to acknowledge that a gift taken by an employee is unacceptable, if the understanding or expectation that the employee’s official conduct will be influenced by the receipt of the gift or the receipt of the gift causes the appearance of impropriety. It is not the intent of this policy to address the legitimate exchange of gifts. It is, however, the intent of this policy to state that there is no legitimate reason for an employee to receive a gratuity or ‘tip’ for properly performing their duties as a BSO employee.”
But until the source of the funds is disclosed, it’s not possible to know if that section of the sheriff’s manual applies.
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