The Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and sergeants’ union filed a grievance against BSO leadership Wednesday over the recent suspensions of five Tamarac deputies, arguing that the discipline is an “egregious” violation of their collective bargaining agreement.
The deputies were suspended without pay Friday as part of the ongoing fallout of the triple shooting in Tamarac that killed Mary Gingles, her father, and a neighbor in February. After the shooting, which Sheriff Gregory Tony described as a failure of the agency, he publicly declared that he would hold his deputies accountable. At least 15 Tamarac deputies have now been suspended or fired.
The grievance, filed by IUPA 6020 President Dan Rakofsky, argued that the act of indefinitely suspending the five deputies without pay constitutes “severe discipline tantamount to termination,” but without any completed investigation that would give BSO just cause as required by the bargaining agreement.
“Since any loss in pay or benefits imposed by the employer is de facto ‘discipline’ under the law, the requirement of following the past practices and established policies within BSO Sheriff’s Policy and Procedures manual must be adhered to by Management,” Rakofsky wrote. “In this case, they have not been followed, and this unlawful and adverse action against the aggrieved deputies is without precedent or any fathomable explanation that would justify it.”
The deputies, Eric Baide, Lemar Blackwood, Dia Cross, Eric Klisiak and Daimeon Nelson, were all summoned to meet with internal affairs on Friday and informed that they had been placed on leave without pay, according to the grievance. Since the shooting, the deputies had provided lengthy witness statements to internal affairs. Two of the deputies, Blackwood and Klisiak, had been suspended with pay since March 28. The other three had been on full road patrol duty until Friday, the first time they had heard they were facing discipline over the shooting.
Some of the deputies “had little to no involvement with any portion of this case,” the grievance states. “Therefore, it begs the question as to how BSO could breach the collective bargaining agreement in such an egregious manner when the action is so diametrically opposed to the facts of the situation, especially when those facts, according to the procedures that must be followed, have not yet even been determined by BSO.”
The union is now asking for Tony to reinstate all five deputies and compensate them for any withheld wages.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 16, Nathan Gingles shot and killed David Ponzer, his former wife’s father, then chased Mary Gingles through a quiet Tamarac neighborhood with a gun while their 4-year-old daughter followed him. He then shot and killed his ex-wife and a neighbor, Andrew Ferrin, whose home she had run into for help. Gingles now faces three counts of first-degree murder.
Mary Gingles had repeatedly sought help from the Sheriff’s Office over fears that Nathan would kill her in the months leading up to her death, records show. The gun Nathan Gingles used was supposed to have been surrendered to BSO due to a domestic violence injunction. Some of the deputies suspended had been investigating the potential threats to Mary Gingles’ life, records show, though the five deputies suspended without pay on Friday are not listed on any incident reports at the home reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.
The Sheriff’s Office has not said what involvement the five deputies had in relation to the triple shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. One of the deputies, Blackwood, was listed as personnel on scene the day of the shooting.
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