Reject sheriff’s excessive demands | Letters to the editor (Mine is the first one!!)

According to the Sun Sentinel, more than 50% of Broward taxpayers’ dollars are swallowed by the sheriff’s office and Sheriff Gregory Tony has the audacity to ask for more increases in 2026, with Pompano Beach facing the largest budget hike of all, a whopping $13 million, among the cities that pay BSO.

Pompano is already paying $63 million this year, up from $53 million in 2022. If we succumb to Tony’s demands, city residents will shell out $72 million next year.

It would be one thing if BSO were doing a good job, but they’re not, and they can’t prove it with any hard data points, either. Even if BSO did spew out some stats, could we trust they are telling the truth when they police themselves?

Why would Pompano Beach let our highest-paid contractor operate with so little oversight and unlimited funds? We’re the client. They have clearly forgotten that, based on how they treat us. We pay the sheriff, not the other way around.

I launched browardcopwatch.com to gather feedback from Pompano Beach residents about their interactions with BSO in the past year. Of the 100 responses I received, 55% had reason to complain about BSO. Of that number, 71% did not file complaints due to fear of retaliation or a belief that it would be useless.

Lauren Holliday, Pompano Beach

Here's the link to all the letters/full article. It was behind a paywall, so I shared my saved version. :)