Mayor Explains BSO Decision to Village Residents

The mayor of Deerfield Beach made a special trip to Century Village East to explain the city’s decision to end its relationship with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and move to create its own poice and fire depatments.

Mayor Todd Drosky explained the decision while appearing before the CVE Master Management Board of Directors, outlining both the timeline and the reasoning behind the move. 

He said there will be a two-year wind-down period during which the Broward Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide police and fire rescue services to the city. During that time, Deerfield Beach will create and staff its own departments, which are expected to take over at the end of the two-year period.

The mayor emphasized that there will be no disruption of police or fire rescue services during the transition. He said claims that moving away from the Broward Sheriff’s Office would endanger lives amount to “fear-mongering,” and stressed that public safety will remain fully intact throughout the process and beyond when the city has its own departments.

Drosky said a key reason for the decision was cost. According to a city study, he said Deerfield Beach could save between $250 million and $950 million over the next 20 years by operating its own police and fire rescue departments. He said the anticipated savings played a major role in the decision and committed that property taxes will not increase as a result of the move.

Beyond cost savings, the mayor said the decision was also about restoring local control. He explained that under the current arrangement, staffing decisions are made by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which can result in deputies from outside Deerfield Beach being assigned to patrol the city. He said that creates a situation where officers unfamiliar with Deerfield Beach neighborhoods are policing local streets.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office provides police services to several cities in Broward County, and Drosky noted that Deerfield Beach was among the largest of those municipalities. He said Deerfield Beach is the 10th largest city in Broward County, the 13th largest city in the South Florida metropolitan area, and the 35th largest city in the state of Florida. According to the mayor, the Broward Sheriff’s Office model of providing police and fire services “simply doesn’t work for large cities.”

Drosky said creating city-run departments will give Deerfield Beach control over staffing, overtime, and leadership decisions, including who serves as police chief. He said the city intends to build departments over the next two years that reflect the city’s culture and values.

He also addressed concerns that a new city police department would only attract inexperienced officers, saying Deerfield Beach remains one of the most desirable places to work in police and fire services and will attract top-level professionals.

The decision follows a dispute that began in October 2025, when the sheriff gave notice of intent to terminate the contract over cost increases the city said violated the existing agreement. The dispute continued until late last month, when the city voted to permanently separate from the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Drosky also said the city would not rule out partnerships with neighboring municipalities for certain services, specifically the City of Pompano Beach for potential joint fire rescue services.While Pompano Beach also contracts with the sheriff’s office for police services, it maintains its own fire rescue department.  Other cities in the area have arrangements to share fire rescue services.

While the city transitions away from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, officials emphasized that Century Village East’s internal security operations will not be affected. CVE Master Management, which oversees security for the village, separately contracts for what are known as law-enforcement “details.” A detail allows an off-duty law-enforcement officer to be hired to patrol a specific area and provide targeted enforcement.

Currently, CVE Master Management hires off-duty Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies to provide services inside the village, including traffic enforcement and other targeted law-enforcement needs. It is anticipated that once Deerfield Beach completes its transition and establishes its own police department, the village will be able to continue hiring officers for details, with City of Deerfield Beach police officers providing the same services.