One of the most highly-watched races for Tuesday's Primary Election in Broward has Sheriff Gregory Tony facing several challengers in his reelection bid.
Three other Democrats are going against Tony in the Primary, with the winner facing an independent candidate in November. No Republicans are vying for the job.
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The position is a major one. The Broward Sheriff's Office is the largest in Florida, with 5,800 employees, including more than 2,700 certified deputies and more than 700 fire rescue professionals.
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BSO provides full-time law enforcement services in 14 Broward cities and towns and in all of its unincorporated areas, serving more than one-third of the county.
The department has an annual operating budget of nearly $1 billion.
Who is Gregory Tony?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Tony sheriff in January 2019, just days after taking office. He had fired Tony's predecessor, Scott Israel, for his alleged mishandling of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in February 2018, a decision that was upheld by the Florida Senate.
Before becoming sheriff, Tony worked for the Coral Springs Police Department from 2005 until 2016, working his way up to sergeant. He resigned to run a police consulting firm that specialized in active shooter training. DeSantis appointed him on the recommendation of the father of a Stoneman Douglas victim who knew him from the gym where they both worked out. The vetting process was completed in days.
Israel ran for the job again in 2020 but lost to Tony in that year's Primary. Tony also defeated Republican challenger H. Wayne Clark in that year's General Election.
Tony's time as sheriff has not been without controversy.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report issued in 2022 said Tony repeatedly lied on his police applications, including failing to disclose that he fatally shot another teenager during a fight when he was 14. Tony was later found to have acted in self-defense and acquitted, but the applications required the disclosure of all arrests no matter the court decision.
The FDLE said Tony could not be criminally charged because the false statements happened so long ago the statute of limitations had expired.
The investigation found that in 2003, Tony answered truthfully that he had once used LSD as a teenager when he applied for a job with the Tallahassee Police Department, his first law enforcement application. After that admission caused his rejection, investigators found that on subsequent police applications Tony answered “no” when asked if he had ever used or handled hallucinogenic drugs.
Investigators say Tony also repeatedly lied on police and Florida driver’s license applications by answering “no” when asked if his license was ever suspended. Pennsylvania had suspended his license in 1996 for failing to pay traffic tickets. That last happened in 2019 when he applied for a new license shortly after he became sheriff.
In April of this year, FDLE recommended suspending Tony's law enforcement certification for six months over allegations of lying on the driver's license applications.
In May, an administrative law judge said Tony should receive a written reprimand, be required to complete ethics training and be placed on an 18-month “probationary status.”
The judge's order will go to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission for a final decision.
Tony, for his part, has focused on the initiatives he's implemented during his tenure as sheriff.
They include "a state-of-the-art Real Time Crime Center and Threat Management Division allowing for enhanced school safety, the building of a new Research, Development, and Training Center, created strict policies and practices to ensure transparency and accountability, established varying degrees of community policing models throughout our county," according to his campaign website.
Tony's plan for the future includes building community trust, reducing emergency response times and prioritizing training and development.
Tony did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
Who's Running Against Tony?
Tony is facing three other Democrats in Tuesday's Primary, all with law enforcement backgrounds.
Steven Andrew Geller
Geller, not to be confused with longtime county commissioner Steve Geller, touts his 33 years of law enforcement experience on his campaign website, which says he began his career as a road patrol officer with the Plantation Police Department in 1991.
He then rose through the ranks to become a captain in 2015, and served as a school resource officer at South Plantation High School until 1997.
After Plantation PD, Geller worked for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a special agent.
"I want to return honesty and integrity and leadership back to the sheriff's office in our community," Geller said. "Right now, our community lacks trust in our sheriff and they want it back."
David Howard
Howard also has more than three decades in law enforcement, but started his career in the Air Force which he joined shortly after high school.
He spent over 30 years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves, serving in Operation Desert Storm.
Howard's civilian law enforcement career started in 1988 as a reserve police officer with the West Palm Beach Police Department.
In 2020 he was appointed Chief of Police and created a brand-new Police Department in Pembroke Park.
"My platform is to restore confidence in the Broward Sheriff's Office by the residents of Broward County, my main goal will be of course violent crime and shootings and putting more police on the streets, putting paramedics and rigs and of course trying to fix the jail," Howard said.
Alvin Pollock
In addition to his service as a U.S. Marine, Pollock also has decades of law enforcement experience, including more than 40 years with BSO
Pollock joined BSO in 1977 and has held a number of positions, including colonel, watch commander, courthouse commander road patrol sergeant, detective, and deputy sheriff.
He retired in 2017 but wants a shot at running the department he spent so many years with.
"My priorities and moving forward would be to stop the violent crime and and the shootings," Pollock said.
Criticism for Tony
All of Tony's challengers have criticized his leadership and how he spends money, citing the over budget training facility, which ended up costing double the original estimate.
"It's just unnecessary. And a lot of that money could have went for investigative tools and also lifesaving tools that the deputies could have used, you know, throughout the course of their duties," Pollock said.
BSO is also responsible for corrections in the county. Tony has taken heat for at least 21 jail deaths in the last four years and two pregnant women who gave birth while incarcerated.
"In the jail itself it's just, it's a disaster, there's several hundred jail employees, deputies, civilians, according to the sheriff at his last commission meeting it's over 200 short that they don't have bodies for," Howard said.
then there's the troubled 911 center. It's been six years since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and the communications breakdown exposed slowed response times and transferring calls to the right city for help.
"There's no guarantee right now If you call 911 and you need a rapid response from law enforcement that you're actually going to receive it because we're not sure where that call is actually going to," Geller said. "It needs to be corrected, it's something that's been out there still not being corrected."
An Independent Challenger
Whoever wins Tuesday's primary will face Charles Edward Whatley, who is running for Broward Sheriff as an independent.
Whatley boasts 28 years as a United States Marine Corps veteran and law enforcement professional.
He previously worked for the Oakland Park Police Department and also is a former BSO employee who retired from the department.
During his time at BSO, he worked patrol, motorcycle unit, detective bureau, field force, and training unit.
"My vision for the Broward County Sheriff's Office is one of positivity, fiscal accountability, freedom from controversy, and a focus on building a safe and friendly agency," Whatley's campaign website reads. "I am dedicated to leading the Sheriff's Office in this direction, and I seek your support in creating a professional public service agency that we can all trust and take pride in."
