15-MONTH PAID SUSPENSION ENDS
Oft-investigated deputy back on job, but two state inquiries, four lawsuits pending
A Broward sheriff’s K-9 deputy, the subject of repeated claims of police brutality, is back on the street after spending half of the past four years suspended. Spotlighted on reality TV with his police dog Bali, Deputy Jerry Wengert has been a lightning rod on the force since becoming a deputy in 2004. Two internal affairs investigations of him came two years later. He was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint by his own agency in 2012. And since 2013, he has been named as a defendant in four civil lawsuits that depict him as a quick-fisted deputy with a “sadistic” bent for letting his dog maul suspects after they’ve surrendered. But Wengert has been cleared in a total of nine internal affairs investigations and found not guilty by a jury of the criminal complaint, and some who know and have worked with him praise his police work. The four lawsuits, including a
wrongful death suit for a fatal shooting while on duty, are pending infederal court.
The 38-year-oldK-9 handler regained his badge last week after spending 15 months suspended, with pay. His annual salary is $72,735. He was placed on suspension in June 2015 while state prosecutors and BSO internal affairs investigated the arrest of an inebriated Dania Beach man whosemugshot showed his face lopsided fromswelling, one eye blackened and sealed shut.
Prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges and closed their investigation in July. Wengert, fellow deputies and witnesses gave differing accounts about who swung first, and the beaten man could not rememberthe altercation, so a conviction was unlikely, Broward Assistant State Attorney David Schulson wrote in a July 5 memo.
Sheriff’s officials called Wengert into headquarters Tuesday and advised him that he had been cleared by the department’s office of internal affairs and could return to full duty. Wengert hasn’t yet regained his K-9 assignment but hopes to soon. He has been assigned to road patrol in Dania Beach. His attorney said the deputy will take some retraining classes.
State prosecutors continue to investigateWengert in two unrelated cases.
One involves accusations that Wengert and another deputy antagonized a police dog into attacking two men suspected of spraypainting graffiti on freight cars after they surrendered during an incident in January 2014.
InNovember 2014, a man suspected of petty theft claimsWengert had his dog tear into him after he surrendered.
Civil lawsuits are pending in both incidents.
Star in ‘Unleashed’
Wengert’s public profile was elevated in 2011 when he took a star turn in “Unleashed: K-9 Broward County,” a six-part reality TV series on The Learning Channel. In the 30-minute chase ’em and catch ’em episodes, Wengert comes across as the affable, younger straight-man to his gruffer and rougheraroundpartner of nearly a decade.
In each episodeBali leads Wengert onto the trail of fleeing suspects. “Find the man, Bali. Find the man,” Wengert coaxes. And after each capture, he heaps praise upon the animal: “Good take down, Bubba ... way to catch the bad guy, again.”
In the aftermath of arrests, Wengert had nothing but smiles. “Nobody got hurt,” he said after one capture. “Everybody complied. Everybody didwhatwe told themto do. Thiswas a great, great take-down, and I’m very, very excited about it.
“I’m so happy right now. It’s always fun to catch people. ... I can’t talk to the dog, but he seems pretty happy when he catches people too.”
And when they occasionally failed to corner a suspect, Wengert was clearly dismayed: “We let a guy get away from us. ... I won’t sleep.”
Wengert’s police union attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said the show made his client ripe for an onslaught of litigation.
“He’s just become a target and easy pickins, in part, because he was the star of ‘Unleashed,’” said Schwartzreich, who has a Fort Lauderdale practice. “Contrary to allegations, he’s someone that plays by the rules. The public needs Deputy Wengert back on the streets, sooner rather than later.”
The divorced father of two daughters, ages 13 and 16, managed to ride out his suspension with minimal struggle thanks to the support of family and friends, odd jobs, coaching sports and the companionship of Diesel, a retired police dog who lives with him, Schwartzreich said.
“He would love to talk, but work will not allow it,” Schwartzreich said in response to a request for an interview withWengert.
Wengert’s earlier suspension — without pay — lasted from July 14, 2012, to Aug. 16, 2013, while he waited to go to trial on accusations that he beat up a 17-year-old boy. After Wengert was acquitted by a jury, he returned to duty and received $63,661in back pay.
The president of the Police Benevolent Association, Jeff Marano, had nothing but praise for Wengert. He is a stand-up law enforcer with a stellar success rate and he always has his partners’ backs, Marano said. “He’s one of those guys who, if stuff is going bad, youwant him on the scene.”
Concerns raised
Federal lawsuits allege that Wengert is “sadistic,” “malicious” and “unfit to be a deputy.” Some claim he has his dog attack suspects when it is not necessary because they’ve already surrendered. Three of the suits stemfromincidents that occurred in January, June and November of 2014.
But Marano defends Wengert’s use of his K-9 partner.
“K-9 officers have to be looked at entirely differently than any other,” he said. Along with considering a K-9 deputy’s bite ratio — a statistic that compares the numberof times a deputy deploys their dog to the number of dog bites — a deputy’s shift, location and assignment must be factored in as well, Marano said.
InWengert’s 15 years as a K-9 officer, he has maintained a below-average number of bites, said Marano, of the police union. An acceptable bite ratio is 20 percent and Wengert’s average is 18 percent, Marano said.
“All those variables go into whether or not you’re more prone to litigation than the officer that sits at a desk and never goes anywhere,” he said.