1976: The Broward
County Crime Commission Emerges
The Broward County Crime Commission was founded
in 1976 during a fragmented time in Broward County Public Safety. During
the mid-70’s, Broward County was considered the fastest growing area in the
United States. Likewise, the Criminal
Justice System and local government were dealing with growing pains of a soon
to be burgeoning and booming metropolis.
Unfortunately, crime statistics were also booming. In contrast, budget cuts were occurring
across the board in Law Enforcement.
Salaries, benefits, working conditions and morale were at all time lows.
Amid an intensifying problem, and out of concern
and petition from Broward County residents, the Broward County Crime Commission
was founded by Frank R. Pinter, and a special joint committee of 12 business
owners, professionals and corporate executives, as well as current and prior
law enforcement personnel. The Broward
County Crime Commission’s initial purpose was to study crime and the criminal
justice system in Broward County.
Frank R. Pinter was appointed as the first Chairman/President
of the Broward County Crime Commission, and will forever be remembered as the founding
father of the agency. Frank Pinter was
a great man; a dedicated man of vision and results to the community. Over the next 30 years, under his leadership,
as both president and chairman, the Broward County Crime Commission grew to one
of the foremost Crime Commission’s in the United States.
Pinter was a perfect fit to head up the Crime
Commission during its inception, as he recognized the “writing on the wall” of
terrible things to come. As a 17 year
veteran of the Broward Sheriffs Office, he possessed both a diversified and
vast background as a detective and criminal investigator. He had previously been appointed by several
Governors as a Special Investigator for the Broward County Grand Jury to
investigate corruption of public officials.
He had also been the Chief Investigator for the Broward County State
Attorney’s Office.
Through his indelible background, Pinter
confirmed a potential crisis ready to emerge, and instituted sweeping
recommendations to improve key areas of the county’s criminal justice
apparatus. Having also been a candidate
for Sheriff of Broward County in 1968, Pinter saw the need for a Crime
Commission, based upon evaluating similar successful Crime Commissions in
Kansas City, Chicago and New Jersey.
For example, Pinter was very alarmed by the fact
that things had gotten so dire in Kansas City, that a grand jury had issued a
decreed that legitimate businessmen should form a Citizen’s Crime Commission to
counter the rampant crime in the city. Putting down roots in south Florida,
and raising a young family at the time, Pinter surely did not want a similar
Kansas City criminal fate to occur in Broward County.
With a “nip it in the bud” passionate approach,
he quickly implemented programs to key areas of the Broward County Criminal Justice
System, including protocols to help under-funded police departments meet their
budgets. He lobbied policy setting
people and urged them to allocate optimum budget dollars for public safety and
encouraged them to keep political platforms out of policing. He also approached Law Enforcement oriented leaders
in the community to endorse and embolden Criminal Justice System transparency
to the citizens of Broward County. From
these community relationships, neighborhood watches emerged and the approach on
crime became more of an agency/community partnership to deter crime.
The Commission was founded with the sole purpose
to protect the citizens of Broward County.
It was designed to maintain a constant vigil against the intrusion of
crime in society by: 1) conducting
fact-finding inquiries; 2) bringing facts to the public’s attention; 3) referring
criminal findings to appropriate law enforcement agencies for possible
prosecution; 4) and finally making recommendations to the Governor and the
Legislature for improvements in the laws that can better assist Law Enforcement.
1977 – 1980: The
Early Years
By 1977, over 200 concerned citizens had joined
the Broward County Crime Commission. Leonard
Spatz became the agency’s second president.
Most of the concerned and active members were derived from the Business
Sector. Armed with the weight of public
opinion, the threat to efficient and honest law enforcement was eliminated.
1981 – 1984: Making a
Presence
During the early 80’s, the Crime Commission led
several community initiatives to alert the community about the risk associated
with narcotics, especially amongst children.
With south Florida being notorious for the Cocaine Cowboys, the Crime
Commission, through the leadership of its third president, Hugh Murray, took an
emphatic stance about the personal destruction of the narcotic that was being
masqueraded as a social and recreational drug, with no addictive
side-effects. Through numerous programs
and forums, the Crime Commission stood steadfast in educating and enlightening
the community.
1985 – 1991: A Leader
of Professional Standards
By 1985, the Broward County Crime Commission had
emerged as the preeminent non-governmental, non-political, non-partisan agency
in support of the Law Enforcement and the Criminal Justice System in Broward
County. Being non-political, the Crime
Commission was very proactive in ensuring that quality police officers and/or
deputies weren’t victims of consequences having to deal with “so-called
politics”. During 1985, the Sun-Sentinel
published an article citing that the Crime Commission was averse to newly
elected Sheriff Nick Navarro firing or demoting 35 key personnel (who had 300
years of combined experience) from the Sheriffs Office after his election
victory.
From 1985 to 1986, the Crime Commission conducted
numerous forums on organized crime. James DeCoursey became the
organizations fourth president. The
Crime Commission diligently lobbied local and state governmental agencies to
set up a state wide agency to combat organized crime. Chairman Frank Pinter initially proposed the
idea, comparing it to a 24-hour-a-day, year-round grand jury. Quoted in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper,
Pinter stated, ``What we are looking at is a nonpolitical civilian agency, a
super, statewide commission unbounded by jurisdictional jealousies and
interagency infighting, `` Pinter said. During a lobbying effort in Tallahassee,
Pinter commented that the statewide agency should be given powers of subpoena,
arrest, immunity and contempt and be shielded from liability. Out of
the lobbying and support by the Broward County Crime Commission, the Statewide
Prosecutor’s Office evolved in 1986
As a branch of the Florida attorney Generals
Office, the Office of Statewide Prosecution was charged with the responsibility
to prosecute certain organized criminal activities which occur in, or affect,
two or more judicial circuits. The modus
operandi of the agency examines: bribery; burglary; criminal usury; extortion;
gambling; kidnapping; larceny; murder; prostitution; perjury; robbery;
carjacking; home-invasion robbery; narcotics violations; violations of the
provisions of the Florida RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt
Organization), Florida Anti-Fencing Act, or the Florida Anti-Trust Act of 1980
as amended; computer pornography; and any crime involving, or resulting in,
fraud or deceit upon any person; or any attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to
commit any of the crimes specifically enumerated above.
By 1988, the Crack Cocaine epidemic burst onto the scene in
Broward County and the United States.
The Crime Commission was again, right there, right out in front,
educating people on the both the dangers and addiction levels of the drug. The Crime Commission hosted a 28 city
coalition with elected officials and police chiefs from every city to hash out
strategies to deter the trafficking of the street level narcotic. At Pinter's suggestion, the board of directors
for the Broward League of Cities agreed in principle to create an anti-
cocaine coalition.
1991 – 1999: A
Laureate Governing Body
In 1993, James Hill became the fifth president of the Broward
County Crime Commission. By 1995, Dottie Ross
became the sixth president of the agency and the first female president of the
Crime Commission. Ms. Ross would later
go on to become a city commissioner, vice-mayor and Mayor in the city of
Hallandale Beach, Florida. Ross was a
great fit for the Crime Commission as she was law enforcement minded. Having worked for the Hallandale Beach Police
Department for 28 years, Dotty Ross graduated from the first Auxiliary Police
Academy and served consecutively in an administrative position to four
consecutive chiefs of police.
Gene Kerry became the seventh president in 1996. During this time, the Crime Commission took an
adept stance against the privatization of prisons and jails. Chairman Pinter was quoted in the
Sun-Sentinel newspaper as saying, “The Broward County Crime Commission has
followed for several years the discourse on privatization of parts of Broward's
correction system. It is our conclusion
that only a professional career law enforcement agency can administer the
operation of a prison in an efficient manner so as to assure the safety of the
public, as well as that of the corrections staff and prisoners. This can only
occur when the system is free of profit-driven constraints.
Quality career corrections personnel depend on
benefits of pensions, promotion, training, etc. all of which are kept to a
minimum in the private security field. We
think you will find that the tried and true professionalism of Broward
Sheriff's Office corrections officers is the only answer in administering our
jails and its inmate population.”
In this period, Art Santucci was invited to join
the Broward County Crime Commission. Over a 10-year period, he served three terms as
the Crime Commission’s eighth president.
During his terms, he developed and coordinated the activities of all
Broward County law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with the Broward Chiefs
of Police Association, to launch the Drug Free America drug-testing program in
Broward County. Mr. Santucci also worked with county and municipal law
enforcement agencies and the State Attorney’s Office to evaluate and support
law enforcement and related criminal justice initiatives both at the state and
regional levels.
2000 – 2005: A
Statesman Voice of Reform
In May of 2000, the Crime Commission worked
closely with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in sponsoring Project
CARGO (Communities Addressing Responsible Gun Ownership). The initiative was aimed to curb gun violence
in schools and at home through an aggressive campaign of education and
enforcement, capitalizing on the resources and expertise of the ATF.
In 2003, Monica Hofheinz became the ninth
president of the Crime Commission. Her
experience as a career prosecutor for the Broward State Attorney’s Office (SAO)
was invaluable in moving the Crime Commission forward in its endeavors on
behalf the Criminal Justice System. She
was especially assertive and successful in allowing the Crime Commission to
maintain accurate analyses on budgetary and personnel issues with the Criminal
Justice system.
Under her leadership, in 2004, the Crime
Commission worked with Dr. Joshua Perper and the Broward Medical Examiners
office in:
1. Establishing
a forensic accident investigation program which was presented to several of the
police departments to be used by their patrol divisions.
2. Creating
a Bioterrorism symposium.
On February 25th, 2004, the Crime
Commission presented its Anti-Bioterrorism Program to 20 law enforcement
officers from 8 local police departments, as well as the Broward Sheriff’s
Office. The purpose of this program was
to determine if this program would benefit the community and the police
departments in general.
In 2005, Peter Stevens became the organizations
10th president. Together with
Chairman Frank Pinter and Director James DePelisi, Mr. Stevens played a role in
formulating the Broward County Crime Commission’s Think Tank Program to promote
interagency coordination. Topics
included: budgets, training,
recruitment, inter-agency cooperation, equipment, communications, shared
intelligence, ant-crime strategies and all matters of concern within the
criminal justice community. Networking
and familiarity of inter-agency personnel was the major goal and objective of
the program. Today, this program is
vital to the Criminal Justice community, as it presents an opportunity for
local police agencies to come together to discuss mutual problems and how to
overcome them to better serve the community.
During this time, the Crime Commission also
provided education and awareness regarding the risks and horrors of
Methamphetamine. Proactive about the War
on Drugs, the Crime Commission implemented an Anti-Methamphetamine program in
conjunction with insight from the Portland Crime Commission, of Portland
Oregon.
Always thinking about the “Men and Women in
Uniform”, as well as their families, the Crime Commission arranged financing to
underwrite family orientation classes to recent police academy graduates to
familiarize them with the lifestyle of a police officer and the effect on the
family unit.
2006 – Present: Best
Practices and Business Intelligence Policing
Effective January 1st, 2006 through the current
date, James DePelisi became the 11th president of the Broward County
Crime Commission, implementing a cadre of key programs including: Contractor Fraud Prevention (during the
aftermath of Hurricane Wilma); Police Department Recruitment; Anti-Terrorism
Awareness; Child Predator Awareness; and Identity Theft Prevention.
The Crime Commission continued to render insight
and purview on how and why Assistant State Attorney’s should get better
salaries and benefits, in order to maintain seasoned and talented
prosecutors. It lobbied for State
Prosecutors to have pension increases for better planned retirement.
In 2007, the Crime Commission implemented its
Law Enforcement Recruitment program, where it would assist as a central
recruiting depot for Broward County law enforcement, whereupon applicant
inquiries would automatically be submitted to all departments. The Crime Commission implemented an internet
initiative, along with the printing of 3, 800 posters. The program was a virtual success, receiving approximately
160 inquiries per month for police positions in Broward County. The program became so efficient, that the
Crime Commission was forwarding, on average, five qualified applications per
day to the all the Broward police agencies.
In the post months following Hurricane Wilma,
the Broward County Crime Commission rolled out one of most adherent citizen
protection programs in quite some time, with its Hurricane Fraud Contracting
program. This operation served as a
deterrent against consumer fraud, especially in the area of hurricane repair.
The Crime Commission was both a shoulder to lean
on and a voice in the community to prevent price gouging and stolen deposits
for repair work never conducted. The
Crime Commission worked in concert with the Attorney Generals Office by
circulating information to the community, as well as posting notices on
community TV bulletin boards. Hand outs
included a checklist of do’s and don’ts, a well as educational workshops and
Town Hall Meetings with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation
(DBPR).
Standing by the purpose of which the Crime
Commission was founded, the Crime Commission: conducted fact-finding
investigations, brought material facts to the public’s attention, referred the
findings to appropriate law enforcement agencies, and then made recommendations
to the Governor and the Legislature for improvements in laws and in the
operations of government, in its prevention against Hurricane Contractor Fraud.
Also during 2007, the Crime Commission further
indoctrinated its Counter Terrorism awareness initiative as a community
awareness function. The Crime Commission
felt at the time (and still feels) that it was (is) extremely important for the
general public to become involved in identifying suspicious persons and
activities in the ongoing effort to thwart terrorism.
By
2008, the Broward County Crime Commission’s Best Practices Program was rolling
full steam ahead, with its credible White Paper Research Program. The Crime Commission sought out studies of the
best internal practices of law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and
community-based organizations from around the world that had been implemented
and honed to demonstrate superiority in crime and fear reduction. After compilation, the Crime Commission began
the process of forwarding its findings to all of the Criminal Justice agencies
in Broward County.
In this endeavor, the
Broward County Commission learned that Best Practice investigations were able
to yield great benefits in the education of public officials and citizens, and
the effects that such practices had on realized performance improvements of operations. In addition, such due-diligence studies were
able to assess and determine strategic solutions to better improve public
safety.
In 2009, the Broward
County Crime Commission participated in the Broward Legislative Delegation of the
Statewide Court Funding Task Force, which played an integral role in
restoring funding for Traffic Court Hearing Officers for 2009 and onward.
Frank R. Pinter, Founder/Chairman 1976 – 2007
Past Presidents
Frank R. Pinter, President 1976, 1977
Leonard Spatz, President 1978, 1979
Hugh Murray, President 1980 – 1984
Maynard Abrams 1985
James DeCoursey, President 1985 – 1992
James Hill, President 1993, 1994
Dottie Ross, President 1995
Gene Kerry, President 1996
Ed Shasek, President 1997 – 1999
Art Santucci, President 2000 – 2002
Monica Hofheinz, President 2003,2004
Peter Stevens, President 2005
Jim DePelisi, President 2006 – present
