Sheriff Gregory Tony: ‘I’m focused on being a public safety professional’
Broward top cop won’t talk about suspended Scott Israel, intent on improving department
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said Thursday he discovered the need to make changes in the culture and operations of the agency he abruptly took over in January — but he declined to offer his assessment about whether the man he replaced, suspended Sheriff Scott Israel, is fit to hold the job.
“I’m not going to politicize myself and make comments about an individual,” he said in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, adding that he came into an office that had “deficiencies” that needed to be fixed and “they have been fixed.”
During his interview with Sun Sentinel reporters and editors, Tony was asked directly if Israel is “fit to be sheriff.”
“I don’t think that’s a fair question,” Tony said. “If I’m going to lead this agency, I can’t be distracted with the opinions of others or getting involved in the political aspects of making statements against someone who has been elected by this community, placed in the office of sheriff with their voters. For me to make any comment related to whether or not he’s fit to be sheriff I think it does two things: a disservice to this community and it does a disservice to my own character.”
Tony said his posture about Israel is unlikely to change — even next summer when the two men are likely to face off in a primary election contest that will effectively decide who gets another four years running the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
“You probably won’t ever hear me say any comment about Scott Israel being fit or unfit,” Tony said. “It is my role, my responsibility, and my personal opinion that as I become a candidate for this position and begin the campaign, that it should be based on my performance and what I am doing as an individual, and that’s the message that should be put out to this community and let them decide what type of sheriff do they want in this office.”
Israel, the suspended sheriff, is a highly controversial, despised by some Broward residents and strongly supported by others. The circumstances surrounding his ouster and Tony’s appointment remain highly charged 10 months after the changeover.
Israel was sheriff at the time of the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead in Parkland and the shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Jan. 6, 2017, that left five people dead.
Many family members of people killed in the Parkland shooting believe that failures in the way Israel ran the sheriff ’s office contributed to the carnage at the school.
Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Israel and appointed Tony on Jan. 11, just three days after the new governor took office. Tony said Thursday he was called on Monday of that week, went to Tallahassee on Tuesday, was interviewed and found out he was getting the job, then was appointed on Friday.
The Florida Senate makes the final decision on upholding or overturning the suspension. On Sept. 25, a special master appointed by the Senate president found DeSantis failed to prove the allegations of “neglect of duty” and “incompetence” he leveled against Israel.
The full Senate considers the case the week of Oct. 21 — and could uphold the suspension Israel to office.
He said he read the special master’s 34-page report “a few days ago.” To Tony, it “looked like a summary and there wasn’t a presentation of all the evidence,” from the 7,300 pages of testimony and depositions.
Tony said he hasn’t focused on Tallahassee machinations and told members of his command staff that they shouldn’t either.
“I am responsible for this agency right now. I have to make sure that from a public safety standpoint we are prepared to handle whatever call that may come. So I can’t dive into the issues in Tallahassee and I don’t want my command staff worrying about the issues in Tallahassee,” Tony said. “I’m still focused on being the public safety professional and getting the things done that I can, whether it be for another 2½ weeks or another full year or 10 years or 30 years, I can’t change that approach.”
First 10 months
“A good portion of me becoming the sheriff had to do with two horrific tragedies that took place here in Broward,” he said. He said that meant he spent his initial time in office reviewing and changing how the agency operates.
For example, or return he said, training is far different.
He said the previous active shooter training of four hours every three years, with only 90 minutes of hands-on training, was inadequate. Now there are more trainers, more hours of active participation, and training sessions don’t involve watching PowerPoint presentations for hours.
Other kinds of changes including establishing protocols for the number of deputies who are dispatched to certain kinds of calls, such as mass shootings or major car accidents.
Campaign coming
Tony said he’d like to downplay the political aspects that go with the most prominent office in the county, something he said permeated the Sheriff’s Office for too long.
“I’ve looked at all the mistakes that other sheriffs have made. Yes, it’s an elected role, but it doesn’t have to be a political role. You’re still a public safety professional,” he said. “This role cannot turn to where it is an 80-20 split amongst politics versus public safety. It has to be the inverse of that. It has to be more public safety than it is politics.”
Tony plans to run in the August 2020 Democratic primary. Six Democrats — including Israel — have already filed paperwork setting up a campaign committee to raise and spend money. The county is so Democratic that the winner of the primary is almost certain to win a full term as sheriff.
Tony hasn’t yet set up a campaign committee but said he probably would do so by the end of the year.
Still, he’s not ignoring politics. The Broward First political committee, working to support Tony, has taken in almost $109,000 since it began raising money in late June.
And he has a campaign manager lined up: Ashley Walker, one of the state’s top political consultants. She was Florida director of President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and was his deputy state director in 2008. Tony said she isn’t being paid right now but will when the campaign starts operating.
Tony hired Robin Rorapaugh as director of government affairs in the Sheriff ’s Office.
Rorapaugh was chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Hollywood, and until earlier this year was chief deputy supervisor of elections in Palm Beach County. She has also run multiple statewide political campaigns in Florida and was Texas state director for Bill Clinton in 1992.
Rorapaugh is paid $115,000 a year. Tony said he hasn’t filled his staff with expensive political hires, as has sometimes happened with past sheriffs. “This isn’t a matter of, will he hire $1 million of political people and repeat the same failure and mistakes that’s taken place here. It won’t happen.”
He said Rorapaugh is helping him navigate the ins and outs of the government and political scene. “One thing I have expressed very clearly [is] I am not a politician. I don’t understand all of the political dynamics that exist in Broward County, which is immense,” Tony said.