‘The cost of doing business’

In an editorial published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the sheriff said his agency is ready to “remain in place” until September “to allow for the town to be adequately prepared for the change of service.”

“At this time, basic elements of good policing, such as police officer training, standard operating procedures and communications, do not appear to be in place,” Tony recently wrote. “Few, if any, officers have been hired; police vehicles are still being purchased, and the funding for the new police department appears to be in the form of a commercial bank loan of $2.5 million.”

The sheriff ’s statements about hiring aren’t fair, town officials said. Already two people have been hired besides the chief, and there can’t be more hires until the agency is in place, they said. “We have to time it as close as possible to [the] live date to hire people. If I hire people now they’ll be doing nothing for a full year,” Jimenez said.

Mayor Jacobs said Tony’s other points, which he perceives as jabs, aren’t fair either.

“You can’t start a department without money. We

took out a loan. It’s the cost of doing business,” he said. “The policies and procedures are written, they are going through fine-tuning and approval. We’re ready to hire but it’s pointless to hire people if we can’t start the department.”

The relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the town appears strained: The Sheriff ’s Office shuttered its Pembroke Park substation months ago without formal notice. Jimenez said the town had only heard “through the grapevine they were going to be leaving” before it actually happened.

Jacobs accuses them of having “abandoned” the substation without telling the town, even though they are still under contract. A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office referred the South Florida Sun Sentinel to the sheriff ’s editorial when asked to comment.

Sheriff ’s officials said “abandon” wasn’t an accurate characterization.

When the town decided in December 2020 to create its own department, that served as notice that the Sheriff ’s Office would be leaving, said agency spokesman Carey Codd.

“The decision forced BSO to search for a new permanent home in South Broward, as its lease on the district office in Pembroke Park was ending in March of 2021,” he said. “Since Pembroke Park is creating its own police force, it did not make sense to renew the lease in Pembroke Park.”

The substation was moved to neighboring West Park in September, he said. Other delays are issues, too. Earlier this year, Howard told town commissioners he was working on purchasing 18 police cars, which includes a spare.

But purchasing the spare cars has not gone as planned either yet.

“The Police Department was not able to purchase police vehicles in a timely manner due to numerous issues. Current supply constraints will not allow us to obtain cars for our anticipated opening,” he wrote in an October memo.

Although the fleet of 11 new cars arrived last week, the spare cars are still a lingering concern.

The Jupiter Police Department is selling the town three of its 2014 Dodge Charger patrol cars that would only require re-stripping “and should be viable for our department for at least two years if used sparingly,” Howard wrote in the memo.

The total cost would be less than $1,700.

A plan to approve the purchase of the used cars as spares only was scheduled for last week, but removed from the agenda. The town did not say when it would be rescheduled. A second item to spend nearly $11,000 on 11 printers to use within the police cars has also been put on hold as well.