07-24-2007, 02:51 AM
I would like to briefly review the past BSO Sheriffs to get a picture of just how history has been written here, the most political county in Florida. I will start with the sheriff that was here when I started with BSO....
Ed Stack: In 1968, a popular local politician, Ed Stack, was elected sheriff. Deputies' uniforms were changed to the familiar green and white of today, and road patrol deputies were issued take-home vehicles to allow them greater visibility throughout the county. During the next 10 years, BSO's staff grew to 725 employees and added specialized units like Organized Crime, Regional Investigations, Crime Control and Technical Support.
BSO put its first female deputies on road patrol in 1974. The following year, the sheriff's office assumed security and law enforcement duties at the expanding Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and began providing transportation of prisoners throughout the county. Three years later the City of Lauderdale Lakes contracted with BSO to provide the city's police services.
In 1978, Stack was elected to the United States Congress.
Bob Butterworth: Robert Butterworth was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to complete Stack's term as sheriff. Sheriff Butterworth was subsequently voted into office in the 1980 election - at which time the Detention Division expanded. In 1980 the Town of Pembroke Park contracted with BSO to provide its police services, followed by the City of Lauderhill in 1981.
In 1982, Butterworth was appointed Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, requiring him to leave BSO and relocate to Tallahassee.
George Brescher: The Governor appointed Judge George Brescher to complete Butterworth's term as sheriff. This guy did not want to be sheriff and made several trips to Tallahassee to try to persuade the governor to get someone else to be sheriff. He let upper managemant run the department and did not even want to be called at home in the event of a serious department emergency.
Nick Navarro: Nick Navarro was elected sheriff in 1984 and brought with him a career of knowledge in law enforcement. During Sheriff Navarro's administration, the agency's staff doubled to 3,000 employees with a $200 million budget and three new contract cities - Dania, Tamarac and Deerfield Beach. Navarro campaign platform was, I'm a cop lie you, not a politican. Well, that may have been true in the beginning but it did not take long for Nick to become the big showboat that he was. He did put BSO on the map by bringing in "COPS" TV show but was too controversial with the arrest of "TWO LIVE CREW", Luther Campbell, manufacturing Cocaine in the lab, the tent prisons, and his remarkable network of people below him that were once cops themselves but some of whom were on the fast track to becoming just like Nick. The best thing that could have happened was the dismantling of Nick's administration as there were way too many giant egos that had their own agendas. I think the thing that disappointed Nick the most was that he never got to use the sheriff's executive restroom.
Ron Cochran: In 1992, voters elected former Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Ron Cochran to serve as sheriff. Sheriff Cochran was re-elected in 1996 but died the following year following a terminal illness. Cochran is credited with bringing the Sheriff's office a renewed commitment to community policing. Ah yes, community policing, where special units with deputies went out to mow lawns, paint run down buildings and fences and herd shopping carts back to the shopping centers. Cochran did not want to pursue any contract cities while he was in office, as a matter of fact, we lost the Lauderhill district because of his arguement with the then mayor of Lauderhill who vowed to start up the police department again. That became a reality as we all know. Cochran also tried to slowly dismantle BSO, some say because he really did not like BSO going back to his days as Chief of Police at Ft. Lauderdale. When Cochran died, it was actually the best thing that could have happened for the good of the agency in order to save Detention which was being considered to be outsourced to a private agency. Lets not forget the sweetheart deal with the sheriff's office attorney, Charlie Whitelock. In a cutthroat legal world where attorneys stoop to radio, television and newspaper advertising for clients, Charles T. Whitelock is one lucky lawyer.
Since 1993, he and his Fort Lauderdale law firm have collected more than $5 million in fees from their biggest client -- the Broward Sheriff's Office
and here's the sweetest part of the deal: Whitelock and his associates are the only ones who check if the firm's time billed to BSO jibes with work done for the agency. A key BSO administrator who signs off on the firm's bills before payment says he just makes sure work hours and charges add up correctly. He acknowledges that BSO management has a scant understanding of what those thousands of hours of work are for. "I have never asked Mr. Whitelock or any of his attorneys to show me case files to perform some type of quality control of his bills. That's not my function," said Dale Adams, executive assistant to BSO's chief of staff, who checks the bills before submitting them to the agency's finance division for payment. "As far as I know, it's an honor system." Whitelock, his family and his law partners were among Cochran's biggest political supporters in his successful bid for sheriff in 1992 and again in 1996. Cochran cleaned the house left behind by former Sheriff Nick Navarro, trimming about 70 BSO employees and ending his policy of dishing out litigation and other legal services to a variety of lawyers. Cochran's supporters, including Whitelock, described the policy as a patronage system that rewarded attorneys who threw their political support behind Navarro.
When Cochran took over at BSO, Whitelock and his law firm -- Whitelock, Soloff, Rodriguez & Williams -- received two generous contracts from BSO. (His firm is now called Whitelock & Williams.) Whitelock's in-house contract pays him and his legal staff of four attorneys at BSO a monthly retainer of $39,580 -- totaling almost $475,000 annually. The sheriff's office also foots the bill for four executive secretaries, one administrative secretary and a judicial docket clerk.
The Whitelock firm's legal work includes advising the sheriff and his management team, representing the sheriff in lawsuits and other court issues, preparing contracts and leases, and handling all confiscation and forefeiture litigation. The sheriff's office operates the county jails and oversees public safety in Broward's unincorporated areas and six cities. Whitelock's second contract with BSO empowers his law firm to handle all other litigation, including personnel and labor disputes, that had been referred to various attorneys before Cochran became sheriff.
The firm's hourly rate for those services is $125. This contract has generated nearly $655,000 in legal fees and expenses for Whitelock's firm during fiscal 1997. Those are the invoices that face little scrutiny by BSO management.
The only BSO legal work not controlled by Whitelock's firm is liability insurance cases, handled by the sheriff's risk management division. But even there, Whitelock's firm picked up numerous cases this past year, generating $73,074.
Only a handful of other private lawyers got any referral business directly from Whitelock during the past year, earning a few thousand dollars in fees.
Ken Jenne: In 1997, Governor Lawton Chiles announced the appointment of State Senator Ken Jenne to complete Cochran's term. Sheriff Jenne embraced his new role and was overwhelmingly elected to complete the term in the September 1998 primary election. Sheriff Jenne was re-elected for a full four-year term in the September 2000 primary election. We all know just how this place has been run since Jenne has been here. Powertrac was the downfall of his career here. The liklihood of getting any other contract cities after the fall of powertrac seems very unlikely and may only happen as cost cutting measures to save money for the small cities that have to trim their budgets because of tax rollbacks.
In summary, we have had way too many politicians as sheriffs, a cop that said he wanted to be "sheriff of all the peoples", a cop that wanted to take apart BSO piece by piece, and a guy that for the most part doesn't have a clue what real police work is all about.
Ed Stack: In 1968, a popular local politician, Ed Stack, was elected sheriff. Deputies' uniforms were changed to the familiar green and white of today, and road patrol deputies were issued take-home vehicles to allow them greater visibility throughout the county. During the next 10 years, BSO's staff grew to 725 employees and added specialized units like Organized Crime, Regional Investigations, Crime Control and Technical Support.
BSO put its first female deputies on road patrol in 1974. The following year, the sheriff's office assumed security and law enforcement duties at the expanding Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and began providing transportation of prisoners throughout the county. Three years later the City of Lauderdale Lakes contracted with BSO to provide the city's police services.
In 1978, Stack was elected to the United States Congress.
Bob Butterworth: Robert Butterworth was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to complete Stack's term as sheriff. Sheriff Butterworth was subsequently voted into office in the 1980 election - at which time the Detention Division expanded. In 1980 the Town of Pembroke Park contracted with BSO to provide its police services, followed by the City of Lauderhill in 1981.
In 1982, Butterworth was appointed Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, requiring him to leave BSO and relocate to Tallahassee.
George Brescher: The Governor appointed Judge George Brescher to complete Butterworth's term as sheriff. This guy did not want to be sheriff and made several trips to Tallahassee to try to persuade the governor to get someone else to be sheriff. He let upper managemant run the department and did not even want to be called at home in the event of a serious department emergency.
Nick Navarro: Nick Navarro was elected sheriff in 1984 and brought with him a career of knowledge in law enforcement. During Sheriff Navarro's administration, the agency's staff doubled to 3,000 employees with a $200 million budget and three new contract cities - Dania, Tamarac and Deerfield Beach. Navarro campaign platform was, I'm a cop lie you, not a politican. Well, that may have been true in the beginning but it did not take long for Nick to become the big showboat that he was. He did put BSO on the map by bringing in "COPS" TV show but was too controversial with the arrest of "TWO LIVE CREW", Luther Campbell, manufacturing Cocaine in the lab, the tent prisons, and his remarkable network of people below him that were once cops themselves but some of whom were on the fast track to becoming just like Nick. The best thing that could have happened was the dismantling of Nick's administration as there were way too many giant egos that had their own agendas. I think the thing that disappointed Nick the most was that he never got to use the sheriff's executive restroom.
Ron Cochran: In 1992, voters elected former Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Ron Cochran to serve as sheriff. Sheriff Cochran was re-elected in 1996 but died the following year following a terminal illness. Cochran is credited with bringing the Sheriff's office a renewed commitment to community policing. Ah yes, community policing, where special units with deputies went out to mow lawns, paint run down buildings and fences and herd shopping carts back to the shopping centers. Cochran did not want to pursue any contract cities while he was in office, as a matter of fact, we lost the Lauderhill district because of his arguement with the then mayor of Lauderhill who vowed to start up the police department again. That became a reality as we all know. Cochran also tried to slowly dismantle BSO, some say because he really did not like BSO going back to his days as Chief of Police at Ft. Lauderdale. When Cochran died, it was actually the best thing that could have happened for the good of the agency in order to save Detention which was being considered to be outsourced to a private agency. Lets not forget the sweetheart deal with the sheriff's office attorney, Charlie Whitelock. In a cutthroat legal world where attorneys stoop to radio, television and newspaper advertising for clients, Charles T. Whitelock is one lucky lawyer.
Since 1993, he and his Fort Lauderdale law firm have collected more than $5 million in fees from their biggest client -- the Broward Sheriff's Office
and here's the sweetest part of the deal: Whitelock and his associates are the only ones who check if the firm's time billed to BSO jibes with work done for the agency. A key BSO administrator who signs off on the firm's bills before payment says he just makes sure work hours and charges add up correctly. He acknowledges that BSO management has a scant understanding of what those thousands of hours of work are for. "I have never asked Mr. Whitelock or any of his attorneys to show me case files to perform some type of quality control of his bills. That's not my function," said Dale Adams, executive assistant to BSO's chief of staff, who checks the bills before submitting them to the agency's finance division for payment. "As far as I know, it's an honor system." Whitelock, his family and his law partners were among Cochran's biggest political supporters in his successful bid for sheriff in 1992 and again in 1996. Cochran cleaned the house left behind by former Sheriff Nick Navarro, trimming about 70 BSO employees and ending his policy of dishing out litigation and other legal services to a variety of lawyers. Cochran's supporters, including Whitelock, described the policy as a patronage system that rewarded attorneys who threw their political support behind Navarro.
When Cochran took over at BSO, Whitelock and his law firm -- Whitelock, Soloff, Rodriguez & Williams -- received two generous contracts from BSO. (His firm is now called Whitelock & Williams.) Whitelock's in-house contract pays him and his legal staff of four attorneys at BSO a monthly retainer of $39,580 -- totaling almost $475,000 annually. The sheriff's office also foots the bill for four executive secretaries, one administrative secretary and a judicial docket clerk.
The Whitelock firm's legal work includes advising the sheriff and his management team, representing the sheriff in lawsuits and other court issues, preparing contracts and leases, and handling all confiscation and forefeiture litigation. The sheriff's office operates the county jails and oversees public safety in Broward's unincorporated areas and six cities. Whitelock's second contract with BSO empowers his law firm to handle all other litigation, including personnel and labor disputes, that had been referred to various attorneys before Cochran became sheriff.
The firm's hourly rate for those services is $125. This contract has generated nearly $655,000 in legal fees and expenses for Whitelock's firm during fiscal 1997. Those are the invoices that face little scrutiny by BSO management.
The only BSO legal work not controlled by Whitelock's firm is liability insurance cases, handled by the sheriff's risk management division. But even there, Whitelock's firm picked up numerous cases this past year, generating $73,074.
Only a handful of other private lawyers got any referral business directly from Whitelock during the past year, earning a few thousand dollars in fees.
Ken Jenne: In 1997, Governor Lawton Chiles announced the appointment of State Senator Ken Jenne to complete Cochran's term. Sheriff Jenne embraced his new role and was overwhelmingly elected to complete the term in the September 1998 primary election. Sheriff Jenne was re-elected for a full four-year term in the September 2000 primary election. We all know just how this place has been run since Jenne has been here. Powertrac was the downfall of his career here. The liklihood of getting any other contract cities after the fall of powertrac seems very unlikely and may only happen as cost cutting measures to save money for the small cities that have to trim their budgets because of tax rollbacks.
In summary, we have had way too many politicians as sheriffs, a cop that said he wanted to be "sheriff of all the peoples", a cop that wanted to take apart BSO piece by piece, and a guy that for the most part doesn't have a clue what real police work is all about.