AL POLLOCK

BSO currently does not have a robust anti-narcotics investigation and street crimes program to proactively take drug dealers off the streets and reduce the

flow of drugs into Broward

County neighborhoods.

Illegal drugs have an insidious effect on our communities, not only wasting the lives of drug users and hurting their families, but stimulating more violent and non-violent crimes.

 

Illegal drugs are all around us – from wealthy neighborhoods to lower income neighborhoods. With the restrictions on cannabis use retreating, attitudes toward other drugs are also relaxed. Consider the opioid epidemic that swept through Broward and the nation in the past few years – largely a result of poor federal policies, opportunistic corporate distributors and a few bad-actor doctors and pharmacists – which caused a flood of legal and illegal opioid use that hooked and killed thousands of old and young people.

 

BSO currently does not have a robust anti-narcotics investigation and street crimes program to proactively take drug dealers off the streets and reduce the flow of illegal drugs into Broward County neighborhoods. Unlike the 1980s when we had robust networks of informants and undercover officers who effectively pursued and arrested drug dealers, BSO’s anti-drug resources are greatly diminished. We also have less cooperation with federal and state agencies to stop criminal drug networks. Unlike television programs that solve problems in an hour, it takes months and years of investigation and arrests to shut down drug networks. Under the recent BSO administrations, our drug-fighting capability has been reduced.

 

As sheriff, I will make sure that BSO has:

• A stronger anti-narcotics investigation system that effectively combines analytical, investigative, street patrol and social engineering resources of the agency to reduce the drug trafficking.

• An educational arm that visits schools and speaks to young children about the dangers of using drugs.

• Deeper interaction and cooperation with neighboring Law Enforcement agencies, and regional and federal task forces to curtail the drug trade. We are not a law-enforcement island, and we cannot behave as such.

• More cross-training and cooperation between BSO units to create an agile response to drug trafficking.

• More interaction with the communities that we serve.

 

We cannot accomplish this alone. The grandparents who are raising grandchildren, parents who have lost their children to drugs, the children of elder parents who are hooked on opioids – they know where the problems are. As your sheriff, I will make sure that BSO listens and helps.