The federal grant for $53,808,909 was meant for Teacher Incentive Awards for Broward County Public Schools (BCPS). Instead, their local sheriff's office became a social services agency. Acceptance of the grant meant the end of police protection in Broward County, Florida.
It was department policy to issue "civil citations" rather than making felony arrests. This policy was made "mandatory for Broward Sheriff Office (BSO) deputies", said Sheriff Scott Israel.
According to Sheriff Scott Israel, "We are not a policing agency." Israel heads the Broward County Sheriff's Office. He is pictured above with his image on official sheriff squad cars.
The $54 million was used by the Sheriff to turn his deputies into full-time campaign staffers. The deputies were no longer law enforcement officers. They were no longer making arrests. They were now called, "School Resource Officers".
Sheriff Israel openly bragged about his "new" policy:
"I want the community to understand we are not a law enforcement agency," said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. The remark is captured on the video at the end of this post.
Sheriff Israel has never had an active shooter drill for his department. However, the Broward County Sheriff's Department has had "Diversity Training" four times, "De-escalation Training" three times, and "Sensitivity Training" three times.
There are 40 investigations by the Broward County State Attorney’s office into misconduct by Sheriff Israel's deputies and employees. This includes political campaigning during work, which is theft in office, a felony.