[Ken H]

“If the union is in lock-step with the sheriff, there is no voice for the officer.”

Sure there is - the rank and file officer himself. After all, it was the rank and file who carried out this gestapo tactic.

Union or not, the silence of the rank and file makes them guilty.

[familyop]

"Sure there is - the rank and file officer himself. After all, it was the rank and file who carried out this gestapo tactic."

Administrators decide who will be hired and retained. Anyone who opposes them will be fired or start getting threatening messages or worse. There's no quick fix for a community with the most influential constituents wanting such a regime.

Don't live there. Don't spend money there. Don't go on vacation there. Tell others about it. Build up your personal security (cameras, communications, retainers, etc.). That's all that I've come up with.

Even in Florida, with more than its share of foreign, avaricious culture streaming down from the northeast over the years, there are much better communities to live in.

[familyop]

"Sure there is - the rank and file officer himself."

In some of the worst jurisdictions, such an officer would be called the "Lone Ranger" and be terminated one way or another. I've spoken against public employee unions for a long time, but offduty had a good point there about the police union that I hadn't considered.

Still, though, a state or federal job would be better than a municipal or county for any clean, young, healthy folks wanting to get into police work.

[offduty]

While that is a simple approach, it has been my experience that most Sheriff’s office are VERY POLITICAL. I would hazard a guess that most of the Broward SO hierarchy are political allies of Sheriff Israel and not the average rank and file.

So it isn’t as easy as you may think for the average deputy to go against the grain.