Leadership Accountability Starts at the Top: Professionalism. Accountability. Transparency. These principles must apply to everyone, especially those entrusted with leading others.

Accountability is a word frequently used in law enforcement. We expect deputies to answer for their decisions, supervisors to enforce policies, and employees to uphold the highest professional standards. But an important question must be asked: Who holds the leadership accountable?

During my 25 years with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, I witnessed outstanding leaders who earned the respect of their employees through fairness, professionalism, and integrity. Unfortunately, I also witnessed what I believe were systemic leadership failures that damaged morale, weakened employee confidence, and created unnecessary divisions within the organization.

If I were Sheriff, accountability would not depend on your rank, your relationships, or how long you have been part of the administration. It would depend on your actions, your decisions, and your performance.

In law enforcement, authority comes with responsibility. The higher someone rises within an organization, the greater their influence over employees, public resources, and the agency's reputation.

Yet too often, employees perceive that accountability becomes less consistent as individuals move higher through the ranks.

When a deputy makes a mistake, the consequences may be immediate. When a supervisor makes a poor decision, the consequences may affect an entire shift. When executive leadership makes a poor decision, the effects can reach hundreds or thousands of employees and the citizens they serve.

Leadership accountability must recognize that distinction.

Command staff should be held to professional standards that reflect the authority they exercise. Misconduct, abuse of authority, dishonesty, retaliation, and serious failures of supervision must be addressed consistently, regardless of rank.

Accountability does not mean punishing every mistake. It means distinguishing honest errors from negligence, poor judgment, and intentional misconduct while ensuring that consequences are fair and appropriate.

One of the fastest ways to undermine confidence in an organization is to create the perception that advancement depends more on personal connections than professional qualifications.

Employees should believe that hard work, experience, leadership ability, integrity, and demonstrated performance provide a legitimate opportunity for advancement.

If I were Sheriff, I would work toward a transparent promotional system with clearly established qualifications, structured evaluations, documented selection criteria, and meaningful feedback for unsuccessful candidates.

Leadership positions should not be treated as rewards for loyalty. They should be entrusted to individuals who demonstrate the competence and character necessary to lead others.

The Sheriff's Office should never become a place where knowing the right people matters more than doing the right things.

We routinely evaluate employees on their performance, productivity, attendance, and adherence to policy. But how often do we meaningfully evaluate the leadership practices of those supervising them?

If I were Sheriff, I would implement structured leadership evaluations that include confidential employee feedback.

Supervisors and command personnel would be evaluated not only on operational outcomes but also on communication, fairness, professionalism, employee development, and their ability to maintain a productive working environment.

Employee feedback would be considered alongside objective performance measures, operational requirements, and documented conduct. It would not become a popularity contest.

These evaluations would help identify leadership strengths, training needs, and patterns requiring corrective attention.

A supervisor who consistently develops employees, resolves problems, and maintains high professional standards should receive recognition. A supervisor who repeatedly demonstrates poor judgment, favoritism, or abusive behavior should receive appropriate intervention and accountability.

An organization cannot claim to value accountability if employees fear retaliation for raising legitimate concerns.

Deputies, corrections officers, dispatchers, and civilian employees must have meaningful opportunities to report misconduct, questionable decisions, and failures of leadership without jeopardizing their careers.

If I were Sheriff, I would strengthen confidential reporting procedures, establish clear protections against retaliation, and ensure complaints involving supervisory and command personnel receive appropriate independent review.

Employees should never have to choose between protecting their careers and doing what is right.

Likewise, complaints must be investigated fairly. Accountability requires due process, objective fact-finding, and protection against knowingly false accusations.

Leadership accountability extends beyond employee discipline and internal operations. It includes how taxpayer dollars are spent.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office operates with an enormous public responsibility and a substantial budget. Every expenditure should serve a legitimate operational purpose and withstand reasonable public scrutiny.

If I were Sheriff, I would prioritize greater budget transparency, review executive expenditures, examine unnecessary administrative costs, and ensure that spending decisions reflect the needs of frontline operations and public safety.

Taxpayers deserve to understand how their money is being spent, and employees deserve confidence that agency resources are being allocated responsibly.

Public funds should support public safety, not unnecessary privileges associated with rank or position.

Leadership accountability is not merely an internal personnel issue. It directly affects the quality of service citizens receive.

When employees lose confidence in leadership, morale can decline. When promotions appear unfair, talented employees may become discouraged. When misconduct is overlooked, organizational credibility suffers. And when experienced personnel leave because they no longer believe in the direction of their agency, the community loses valuable knowledge and experience.

Research has linked organizational stress with psychological distress, burnout, and reduced police performance. A 2010 study by Jon M. Shane, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, identified significant relationships between organizational stressors and police performance.

The lesson is straightforward: How we lead our employees can influence how effectively they serve our communities.

Citizens deserve deputies who are motivated, well-trained, supported, and confident in the organization behind them.

Perhaps the most important part of leadership accountability is recognizing that it must begin with the person at the top.

If I were Sheriff, I would expect my decisions, expenditures, appointments, and performance to withstand the same scrutiny I expect of others.

I would surround myself with qualified professionals willing to challenge decisions, identify problems, and provide candid advice rather than simply agree with the administration.

I would acknowledge mistakes, explain significant decisions when legally appropriate, and take responsibility for correcting problems.

Leadership is not about protecting a title or maintaining personal influence. It is about accepting responsibility for the people, resources, and communities entrusted to your care.

After 25 years of service, I believe the men and women of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deserve an administration that leads by example, values professional competence, and applies accountability fairly at every level.

And the citizens of Palm Beach County deserve to know that the standards applied to the deputy on patrol also apply to the people making decisions at the highest levels of the organization.

If I were Sheriff, accountability would not be something leadership demands from everyone else. It would be the standard leadership demonstrates every single day.

Because a world-class Sheriff's Office begins with leadership worthy of the trust placed in it.

Shane, J. M. (2010). Organizational Stressors and Police Performance. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(4), 807–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.05.008

  Implementing 360-Degree Leadership Reviews: Getting the Complete Picture

If I were Sheriff, I would implement 360-degree leadership reviews throughout the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to better understand where we are as an organization, identify where improvements are needed, and establish measurable expectations for our leadership.

Traditional performance evaluations generally flow from the top down. A supervisor evaluates an employee, and that evaluation becomes the primary measure of performance. While this process has value, it often fails to capture the complete picture, particularly when evaluating those in leadership positions.

A 360-degree review provides a more comprehensive assessment by gathering structured feedback from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and, when appropriate, other personnel who regularly interact with the individual being evaluated.

A supervisor may look outstanding to the people above them while creating significant problems for the employees working beneath them. Without feedback from multiple perspectives, those problems can remain hidden for years.

These reviews would examine essential leadership qualities, including professionalism, communication, fairness, accountability, decision-making, employee development, and the ability to build trust within the organization.

Employee feedback would be collected through a confidential process designed to encourage honest participation without fear of retaliation. Results would be evaluated alongside operational performance, documented conduct, and other objective measures. Reviews would not become popularity contests or opportunities to settle personal grievances.

Initially, I would use these assessments to establish an organizational baseline. We need to understand where our leadership strengths exist, where employees are experiencing difficulties, and which areas require immediate attention.

From there, the results would help guide leadership training, mentoring, professional development, and organizational improvements. Follow-up reviews would allow us to measure progress rather than simply assume that changes are working.

Individual feedback would primarily support professional development, with appropriate safeguards and separate procedures for investigating serious misconduct. Aggregate findings could also help identify broader organizational problems without unnecessarily exposing individual employees.

The goal is not to embarrass supervisors or punish people for receiving criticism. The goal is to develop better leaders, identify problems before they become systemic failures, and create an organization where every employee has confidence in the leadership above them.

Accountability requires more than reviewing statistics, disciplinary reports, and operational accomplishments. It requires understanding how our leadership decisions affect the people responsible for carrying out our mission.

If we want to build a world-class Sheriff's Office, we must be willing to examine ourselves from every direction, acknowledge where we fall short, and make meaningful improvements.

We cannot improve what we refuse to measure, and we cannot lead effectively if we are unwilling to listen to the people we lead.

  If I Were Sheriff: Leadership Must Be Evaluated by the People It Leads

Professionalism. Accountability. Transparency. Leadership must be willing to accept the same scrutiny it demands of others.

In law enforcement, we routinely evaluate employees on their performance, professionalism, decision-making, and adherence to policy. But there is one important perspective often missing from these evaluations: the opinions and experiences of the people being led.

A supervisor may receive outstanding evaluations from command staff while the employees working beneath them experience poor communication, inconsistent expectations, favoritism, or a lack of support.

How can we accurately evaluate someone's leadership abilities if we never ask the people they lead?

During my 25 years with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, I worked alongside outstanding supervisors who earned the respect of their employees through fairness, professionalism, and integrity. I also witnessed what I believe were systemic leadership failures that negatively affected employee morale and confidence in the organization.

If I were Sheriff, I would implement 360-degree leadership reviews to provide a more complete and accurate picture of leadership performance throughout the agency.

Traditional performance evaluations generally flow from the top down. A supervisor evaluates an employee, and that evaluation becomes the primary measure of performance.

A 360-degree review takes a more comprehensive approach by collecting structured feedback from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and other employees who regularly interact with the individual being evaluated.

These reviews would examine essential leadership qualities, including professionalism, fairness, communication, accountability, decision-making, employee development, and the ability to build trust.

Feedback would be confidential, carefully evaluated, and considered alongside objective performance measures. The purpose would not be to create popularity contests or encourage personal grievances. It would be to identify effective leaders, recognize weaknesses, and provide opportunities for meaningful improvement.

Being respected by your superiors does not automatically mean you are respected by the people you supervise. Both perspectives matter.

Before we can improve an organization, we must understand its current condition.

Within my first 90 days as Sheriff, I would initiate an agency-wide anonymous organizational climate survey to assess employee morale, confidence in leadership, workplace fairness, communication, organizational stress, and trust in the administration.

Every employee group would have an opportunity to participate, including deputies, corrections officers, dispatchers, and civilian personnel.

The results would establish a baseline for identifying organizational strengths and areas requiring improvement.

Combined with 360-degree leadership reviews, these findings would help us develop targeted leadership training, mentoring programs, and measurable expectations for supervisors and command staff.

Annual follow-up reviews and employee surveys would allow us to measure progress and determine whether our efforts are actually improving the organization.

For this initiative to succeed, employees must trust the process.

Confidential feedback would be collected through a system designed to protect employee identities and prevent retaliation. Individual comments would not simply be handed to supervisors in a manner that could identify the person providing them.

Reviews would focus on documented patterns and constructive feedback rather than isolated complaints or personal disagreements.

Leaders would receive clear expectations, appropriate training, and opportunities to improve. Serious allegations of misconduct would be handled through separate, established investigative procedures.

The goal is not to punish leaders for receiving criticism. The goal is to develop leaders who are willing to learn from it.

Leadership accountability is not simply an internal Sheriff's Office issue. It directly affects the quality of service provided to the public.

Research has demonstrated relationships between organizational stress, employee burnout, and police performance. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice by Jon M. Shane identified organizational stressors as significant factors associated with police performance.

When employees feel unsupported, undervalued, or disconnected from leadership, motivation and organizational commitment can suffer.

Conversely, fair and effective leadership can help create an environment where employees are motivated, confident, and better positioned to serve the community professionally.

The citizens of Palm Beach County deserve a Sheriff's Office where employees are supported, leadership is accountable, and professional standards apply equally at every level.

If I were Sheriff, I would expect the same standards of accountability to apply to my administration, including myself.

Leadership should never be about surrounding yourself with people who simply agree with you. It should be about having the confidence to listen, accept criticism, recognize weaknesses, and make necessary changes.

The people closest to the work often have the clearest understanding of what is working and what is failing.

After 25 years of service, I believe our employees deserve a meaningful voice in evaluating the leadership responsible for guiding their careers and protecting their well-being.

We cannot improve what we refuse to measure, and we cannot lead effectively if we are unwilling to listen to the people we lead.

If I were Sheriff, leadership accountability would not stop at the command staff's evaluation of employees. It would include the employees' evaluation of their leadership.

Because a world-class Sheriff's Office begins with leaders who are willing to be held accountable by the very people they are entrusted to lead.

Research Reference

Shane, J. M. (2010). Organizational Stressors and Police Performance. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(4), 807–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.05.008

A proposed public safety partnership for Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Palm Beach Gardens is one of Palm Beach County's growing communities, known for its residential neighborhoods, thriving business districts, recreational amenities, and commitment to quality of life. With continued residential and commercial development comes the responsibility to ensure that public safety resources, emergency preparedness, and law enforcement partnerships keep pace.

Palm Beach Gardens maintains its own municipal police department, which provides primary law enforcement services within the city. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has concurrent jurisdiction and provides specialized resources and mutual assistance when needed. 

As Sheriff, my commitment would be to strengthen this existing partnership, respect the authority of the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, and ensure that the Sheriff's Office serves as a dependable regional resource for the community.

Develop stronger operational partnerships between the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department through coordinated training, intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and specialized support.

Municipal police departments should never feel that they must confront regional criminal threats alone. The Sheriff's Office should be a reliable partner, providing resources and expertise without unnecessarily duplicating local services.

Support targeted traffic enforcement and regional coordination along major corridors, including PGA Boulevard, Northlake Boulevard, Military Trail, and other heavily traveled roadways.

Palm Beach Gardens adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in November 2025. The city's plan identifies PGA Boulevard and Northlake Boulevard as particularly important safety corridors, accounting for approximately half of the city's severe crashes in the plan's analysis. 

The Sheriff's Office should support municipal and state partners with traffic intelligence, specialized enforcement resources, and regional initiatives targeting reckless driving, impaired driving, and serious traffic offenses.

Criminal activity does not stop at municipal boundaries.

Improve coordination between municipal detectives and Sheriff's Office investigative units to identify regional burglary patterns, organized retail theft, vehicle theft, fraud, and repeat offenders operating throughout northern Palm Beach County.

Information sharing and coordinated investigations can help identify criminal patterns earlier and improve the effectiveness of enforcement efforts.

Support neighborhood safety initiatives in communities throughout Palm Beach Gardens, including established residential areas, gated communities, and developing neighborhoods.

Emphasize burglary prevention, vehicle security, fraud awareness, suspicious activity reporting, and neighborhood watch partnerships.

Encourage direct communication between neighborhood associations, municipal law enforcement, and Sheriff's Office personnel when regional concerns arise.

Work collaboratively with local law enforcement and business leaders to address theft, fraud, vehicle burglaries, and other criminal activity affecting commercial areas.

Support coordinated prevention initiatives involving shopping centers, restaurants, office complexes, and other businesses, particularly around major commercial corridors.

Businesses should have access to practical crime prevention resources and effective communication with law enforcement.

Strengthen cooperation among the Sheriff's Office, municipal police, the Palm Beach County School District, and community organizations to support school safety and youth development.

Prioritize behavioral threat recognition, emergency preparedness, responsible reporting of concerning behavior, and early intervention.

Support positive relationships between young people and law enforcement through mentorship, educational programs, and community initiatives.

Palm Beach Gardens faces many of the same hurricane, severe weather, flooding, and infrastructure challenges experienced throughout Palm Beach County.

Improve coordination among the Sheriff's Office, municipal police, fire rescue, emergency management personnel, and neighboring jurisdictions.

Focus on evacuation planning, post-storm security, search and rescue coordination, vulnerable residents, and restoring public safety services following major emergencies.

Support coordinated responses involving law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, behavioral health professionals, and community service providers.

Emphasize de-escalation training, crisis intervention, appropriate referrals, and practical alternatives to unnecessary criminal justice involvement when circumstances permit.

Ensure regional resources are available to assist municipal officers when dealing with complex mental health emergencies.

Create stronger opportunities for residents and business owners to communicate public safety concerns directly with Sheriff's Office representatives.

Support community meetings, public safety presentations, fraud prevention seminars, and accessible reporting procedures.

Where appropriate, share regional crime trends and public safety information so residents understand emerging threats and the resources available to address them.

The Sheriff's Office must demonstrate responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars while ensuring municipal partners have access to necessary specialized resources.

Evaluate opportunities for shared training, equipment, investigative support, aviation, emergency response capabilities, and regional crime intelligence.

Avoid unnecessary duplication of services and prioritize cooperation that improves public safety without creating additional administrative costs.

Palm Beach Gardens has an established police department and a demonstrated commitment to public safety. Its 2025 police annual report recorded 979 reported crimes, compared with 1,154 in 2024. The city's own reporting describes reductions in overall crime while its population continues to grow. 

My goal would not be to replace what is working, but to strengthen cooperation, provide additional resources when needed, and ensure that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office remains a reliable partner.

Public safety is a shared responsibility. Residents deserve agencies that communicate effectively, coordinate their resources, and place community needs ahead of organizational boundaries.

My commitment is to a Sheriff's Office that respects local law enforcement, strengthens regional partnerships, and works every day to keep Palm Beach Gardens and the surrounding communities safe.