five Parkland deputies were photographed hunched over coffee and bagels at a Coral Springs deli two Saturdays ago, it gave their employer, the Broward Sheriff's Office, a spot of indigestion.
BSO acknowledged Wednesday that the city of 18,312 was briefly without a patrol presence while the entire day shift, including a sergeant, went noshing together in another town.
That's against BSO rules.
All of the deputies have been informally counseled for leaving the city unprotected, said Jim Leljedal, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
''The sergeant has taken full responsibility,'' Leljedal said. ``He called the deputies over to the restaurant because he wanted to brief them and coordinate the day's activities.''
The breakfast bunch was observed at about 7:15 a.m. at Strathmore Country Bagel and Deli, 9100 Wiles Rd., by an alert Parkland resident, who happened to have a photo-taking cellphone handy. A copy of the photo was sent to BSO.
The breakfast was not only a breach of BSO procedures. It was a bad political move.
It came just 13 days after the city police department merged with BSO, the result of a contentious 3-2 City Commission vote. Scores of residents registered loud objections to the merger, some claiming that police protection would suffer.
Story with Photo!
BSO acknowledged Wednesday that the city of 18,312 was briefly without a patrol presence while the entire day shift, including a sergeant, went noshing together in another town.
That's against BSO rules.
All of the deputies have been informally counseled for leaving the city unprotected, said Jim Leljedal, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
''The sergeant has taken full responsibility,'' Leljedal said. ``He called the deputies over to the restaurant because he wanted to brief them and coordinate the day's activities.''
The breakfast bunch was observed at about 7:15 a.m. at Strathmore Country Bagel and Deli, 9100 Wiles Rd., by an alert Parkland resident, who happened to have a photo-taking cellphone handy. A copy of the photo was sent to BSO.
The breakfast was not only a breach of BSO procedures. It was a bad political move.
It came just 13 days after the city police department merged with BSO, the result of a contentious 3-2 City Commission vote. Scores of residents registered loud objections to the merger, some claiming that police protection would suffer.
Story with Photo!