Broward Sheriff Greg Tony is overhauling his organization, with a new focus on deputy training, threat management and recruiting.
Tony, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January after the governor removed former Sheriff Scott Israel, submitted his first proposed budget to county commissioners Wednesday.
The office’s “focus this year will be to build the most comprehensive public safety training facility in the State of Florida,” Tony said in his budget message. The regional training center would be built using reserve funds and would ensure that county deputies and other first responders never lack necessary training, he said.
“The mass shootings at MSD and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport have identified a need for additional training resources,” Tony said in his budget message.
The regional training center “will ensure that BSO’s first responders never fall deficient in training, and that their skills and instincts remain sharp,” Tony said. “If faced with another tragedy in our county, BSO deputies and fire rescue personnel would need to rely on their training to eliminate any threat and save lives without hesitation.”
Deputies came under criticism for not immediately going after the shooter during the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. Gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 14 students and three staff members and wounded 17 others.
The planned programs exceed corrective recommendations made by the state’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, Tony said.
The budget creates a new threat management unit and a Real Time Crime Center, to “rigorously investigate threats” against residents and to manage “a cutting-edge system of video monitoring” using public and private security monitoring systems already in place throughout the county.
Recruitment efforts will be increased to attract more deputies, while youth programs would be used to encourage careers in public safety.
The budget adds 24 positions to the training division — including seven new hires — bringing the division to 58 employees. Another eight new positions are in being assigned to recruitment efforts.
May 1 is the statutory date for sheriffs to submit their budgets, which have to be approved by county commissioners. Commissioner Michael Udine said it was too early to comment on the budget proposal that he had just picked up.
Commissioners hold their next budget workshop May 14.
Tony’s $545.6 million proposed regional core budget represents a 5.93 percent increase over the department’s current budget. His overall proposed operating budget is $970.5 million, which includes contracts with cities to provide police and fire protection and a contract with the county for regional communications.
A new threat management division, made up of the threat management unit and crime center, has an overall $4.2 million budget. It includes 28 positions, with 15 transferred from other areas and 13 new positions, according to the budget.
The crime center will have multiple data walls made up of interconnected television monitors showing multiple events simultaneously, the budget document said. It will have space for at least 20 people to manage active incidents. There will also be privacy rooms to monitor clandestine and undercover operations.
Among other things, the budget:
— Creates an Office of Chaplain, with four positions, to educate staff on inmates’ religious rights “in order to decrease the numbers of possible religious violations.” It will also address the spiritual needs of employees.
— Reassigns five employees from the unit that handles risk protection orders that seek to remove weapons from people at risk of harming themselves or others. Israel had added 31 positions to the unit last year after the state authorized the orders following the Stoneman Douglas shooting.
lbarszewski@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski