Deerfield-News. com-Deerfield Beach,Fl-OPINION-
Hindsight is 20-20; no one in Deerfield Beach anticipated Sheriff (Sergeant) Gregory Tony’s unilateral cancellation of the Deerfield Beach contract for Police and Fire services.
No city leader had an agenda to get rid of BSO. Sheriff (Sergeant) Tony has to blame himself for a self-inflicted injury by canceling the contract with Deerfield Beach.
This left our Mayor and Commissioners with a couple of choices: capitulate and keep working with a Sheriff who does not honor contracts. Sheriff Tony, I think, underestimated Deerfield Beach and overestimated his importance as Sheriff of Broward County.
Work with a neighboring community on a joint Police and fire Department, or do what we are doing: reform the Deerfield Beach Police and Fire Rescue Departments.
I heard Sheriff(Sergeant) Tony, in his own words, say he is The Most Powerful Man In Broward County during a Deerfield Beach Commission meeting.
Now, fast forward to this week: Broward County Mayor Bogen and the Broward County Commission voted unanimously to terminate BSFR Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue and reform Broward County Fire Rescue, run by the Broward Mayor and Commissioners.
So now, the Deerfield Beach move, while not planned, was never on the agenda to fire or leave BSO and BSFR. But having CONTROL of our own Police and Fire became the best option.
Had Deerfield Beach capitulated, the city would have been negotiating a Fire service contract that, at the end of the day in 2028, Sheriff Tony would not be able to provide, as Broward County leaders stripped him of the BSFR part of BSO.
To correct the record of some other news agencies, the vote to leave and restart Deerfield Beach Police and Fire Rescue was 4-1, not 3-2, on January 20th 2026.
Now, in hindsight, with Broward County Mayor Bogen and Broward County Commissioner removing the Fire Rescue services from BSO, it cements the fact that Deerfield Beach made the Right Call!
The above is the opinion of the Publisher Howard Levy of Deerfield News Inc. and not that of any advertisers or sponsors
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