FEBRUARY 2026 MONTHLY BRIEFING Topic: PATROL STAFFING & VISIBILITY City Action Plan: Lake Worth Beach

Twenty-five years ago, when I was a brand-new deputy, attending homeowners’ association meetings, neighborhood gatherings, and local business forums was simply part of the job. At the time, I didn’t fully appreciate the impact those appearances had.

With the benefit of experience, I now understand how important those moments were. Showing up, sharing crime trends, answering questions, and listening to concerns did more than pass along information—it built relationships. Residents got to know the deputies behind the badge, and deputies gained real insight into the communities they served. Lines of communication were opened long before a crisis ever occurred.

It didn’t require significant funding or additional resources—just a small investment of time. Yet the return was enormous: trust, cooperation, and safer neighborhoods.

Over the years, that connection has steadily eroded. Attendance at HOA meetings, business forums, and neighborhood discussions is no longer routine. In many areas, it’s not even occasional—it’s absent. That disconnect has consequences, and communities feel it.

As your next Sheriff, I will bring this essential practice back.

• Regular Deputy Participation
  Deputies, supervisors, and Community Policing Officers will routinely attend HOA, business, and neighborhood meetings when requested—and will proactively offer to do so. Community engagement will be a standard expectation, not a special event.
• Clear Information and Prevention
  Deputies will share current crime trends, prevention strategies, and practical guidance, while answering residents’ questions directly and transparently.
• Problem-Solving Partnerships
  These meetings will go beyond statistics. They will be used to identify concerns, discuss solutions, and work collaboratively to address issues before they escalate.
• Rebuilding Relationships
  This is about more than enforcement—it’s about human connection. We should meet people before something goes wrong, not only after.

I understand that emergencies and active calls for service always come first. But let’s be honest—we are not too busy to engage with our communities. Prioritizing connection is a choice, and it’s one we must make.

A sheriff’s office that is disconnected from its people cannot serve them effectively. A sheriff’s office that is embedded in its community is stronger, more informed, and better equipped to prevent crime and build lasting trust.

In my administration, you will see deputies back in your meetings, back in your neighborhoods, and back as a visible, engaged part of the community.

Because real public safety begins with real public partnership.

 Palm Beach County needs a Sheriff’s Office that puts deputies where they make the greatest difference—on the street, in neighborhoods, and in direct contact with the people we serve. That’s why a core part of my reform plan is streamlining the Sheriff’s Office to restore manpower to patrol and rebuild the quality-of-life policing residents rely on every day.

For years, the Sheriff’s Office has become top-heavy. We’ve added layers of executive leadership while cutting away supervision and street-level manpower—the very presence citizens actually feel in their neighborhoods. That imbalance creates bottlenecks. It slows decision-making, weakens accountability, and pulls deputies away from the communities they swore to protect.

Most residents will never experience a violent crime. But nearly everyone depends on deputies for quality-of-life protection—the daily issues that shape a community’s safety, confidence, and comfort. That includes:

• Stopping drug dealers from gaining footholds in neighborhoods
• Preventing homeless encampments from forming near homes and businesses
• Addressing prostitution in residential corridors
• Responding to street racing and reckless driving that put families at risk
• Maintaining consistent patrol presence and rapid follow-up
   

These are the real needs of the community. And today, we have fewer deputies available to handle them—not because we lack manpower, but because too much of that manpower is tied up in executive offices and bloated specialty units that no longer serve a clear purpose.

My plan takes a direct, measurable approach:

1. Cut upper-level executive allocations in half.
Reducing unnecessary command positions will eliminate bottlenecks, streamline operations, and save taxpayers millions.

2. Redirect those positions back to patrol—the backbone of any law enforcement agency.
This ensures more deputies are available for calls for service, proactive policing, and neighborhood-level crime prevention.

3. Reevaluate and reduce ineffective specialized units.
Some units have grown in size and cost while producing minimal impact. Those positions will be reassigned to street operations where they can make the greatest difference.

4. Rebuild visible presence and deterrence.
We don’t need to hire hundreds of new deputies to fix this problem. We already have the manpower—we just need to put it where it matters. Crime thrives where enforcement is thin. Increase presence, and the environment changes.

Law enforcement has been fighting crime for centuries. What must change is how we deploy our people, how we shape the environments where crime takes root, and how we protect the everyday quality-of-life standards citizens expect.

More deputies on the street means faster response times, consistent visibility, and a Sheriff’s Office that is actually present in the communities it serves. That’s what Palm Beach County deserves—an agency built to solve problems, not manage itself.

I’ve spent 25 years inside this Sheriff’s Office. I know the manpower is here. It’s time we put it back to work for the people.

Patrol is not the bottom of the organization—it is the foundation of public safety.

For too long, patrol assignments within the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have been treated as a fallback or disciplinary landing spot rather than the most critical mission of the agency. This mindset has quietly eroded morale, weakened leadership development, and sent the wrong message to the deputies who answer every 911 call.

Patrol is where decisions are made in seconds. Patrol is where lives are saved or lost. Patrol is the face of the Sheriff’s Office to every neighborhood, business, and family in Palm Beach County. It should never be treated as a punishment—it should be treated as a position of trust, professionalism, and pride.

As Sheriff, I will restore patrol to its rightful place at the top of our operational priorities.

That starts with training. Patrol deputies deserve advanced, realistic, and ongoing training—not just at the academy, but throughout their careers. Decision-making under stress, critical incident response, communication skills, tactical judgment, and officer wellness must be continuously reinforced. Well-trained deputies are safer, more confident, and more effective for the community they serve.

It also requires better leadership training. Supervisors assigned to patrol must be leaders by merit, not placeholders. Leadership is not a title—it is a responsibility. Those entrusted with leading patrol operations must demonstrate competence, ethical accountability, and the ability to mentor deputies under real-world pressure. Patrol leadership should represent the best of the agency, not a holding pattern.

Finally, it requires a culture shift. Morale does not improve through slogans—it improves when deputies feel valued, supported, and invested in. When patrol is respected, productivity rises. When leadership is competent, trust grows. When training is prioritized, both deputies and citizens are safer.

When you dial 911, patrol answers. That reality should guide every staffing, training, and leadership decision in the Sheriff’s Office.

I am asking the citizens of Palm Beach County to join me in restoring pride to patrol, strengthening leadership from the ground up, and building a Sheriff’s Office that honors the men and women who stand the front line every day.