DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — Deerfield Beach city commissioners reached a decision Tuesday night that cutting ties with the Broward Sheriff’s Office will be the new direction for the city.

There will be a two-year transition period in which BSO will continue to provide law enforcement to the city.

“Under BSO, we don’t have control over staffing, we don’t have control over recruitment, we don’t have control over hiring,” said Deerfield Beach Mayor Todd Drosky. “So it’s all bringing local control back to Deerfield Beach. We’ve just outgrown the BSO model.”

Residents, as well as the local Broward County firefighters union and Deputy Sheriffs Association, packed Tuesday’s commission meeting.

Ultimately, commissioners voted 4-1 to cut ties with BSO, which has patrolled the city since 1990, when the original Deerfield Beach Police Department folded into the sheriff’s office.

“The cities just don’t have the opportunity to audit the sheriff’s books,” said Drosky.

Commissioners referenced the findings of an independent study in regard to their voting decisions.

“The consultant that we had put the savings around $450 million,” Drosky said. “That’s the average. It could be as low as $250 million, up to $950 million.”

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said personnel costs are rising, and the numbers are reflected in its contracts.

“Vacancies are killing our ability to retain the best and brightest, and those vacancies exist because of finance,” Tony said at a commission meeting earlier this month. “They can’t afford to live here. They can’t afford to live in the regional areas without necessary pay raises that are not determined based on 1999 5% caps. So that’s a dangerous game to play.”

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