BROWARD (CBSMiami) — Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony gave a virtual address on Wednesday, letting people in the county know that if they throw a big party, they will get busted.
It’s part of an initiative the Sheriff’s Office launched about two weeks ago in an effort to crack down on crime and help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“We had got to a point where 1,100 plus calls came through to the Sheriff’s Office for service related to these party calls,” Sheriff Tony explains. “We also had things going on with an incident referred to as ‘roving car clubs,’ where a large group of young individuals would unite, get out to different parts of the community. 20, 30, 40 plus cars would congregate.”
“This operation has been very pivotal in our ability to not only to break up the crime patterns we have been seeing, but also to spread the stop of COVID-19,” he says.
Sheriff Tony says they broke up 13 large parties in the last 14 days. As part of the initiative, they also issued 260 citations and made 25 arrests, with charges including DUI and grand theft.
Along with his office’s enforcement efforts, the Sheriff says it is important citizens do their part, as well, by social distancing and wearing masks.
“We need people out there to take a ‘common sense’ approach,” Tony explains. “It is not about the individual person anymore. When you don’t wear a mask, when you don’t comply, you are potentially exposing someone else.”
As far as the Sheriff’s Office goes, Tony says 286 of their employees currently have COVID-19. That’s about eight percent of their work force.
Right now, 29 inmates have coronavirus out of about 2,900. Sheriff Tony says those inmates have been quarantined and they are following all of the health and safety protocols.
