A sheriff is a county constitutional officer in his own right answerable only to the voters — EXCEPT that Charlie Crist, a state constitutional officer, he has a Constitutional and statutory obligation to defend the rights of citizens and uphold the laws of the state.
Charlie is almost certainly holding back not wanting to anger county sheriffs (they, too, are politicians, first, not cops) and their thousands of deputies/employees across the state during an election cycle.
... [Tom] Gallagher should launch on Charlie for his failure to execute the duties of his office. The governor has known for a long time about guard violence against young people extending far beyond legally justified force to protect self and others and to maintain lawful order in the state prison and county jail system.
I have done stories on deadly violence against kids in our local jails and the political powers here could care less. Wide media play of that video of the boy being beaten created a political imperative for the governor to fire the head of the state prison system. The governor would not have acted otherwise.