After months of rumors, speculations, and denials, Wilton Manors is finalizing an agreement with Fort Lauderdale to use their police department for more day-to-day operations.
In a memo by the city manager, first obtained by The Gazette, that all city commissioners, WMPD Chief Gary Blocker, and FLPD Chief Bill Schultz are working on a “partnership.”
On July 22, Blocker released a statement saying, “We are assessing the potential need for supplemental services such as traffic safety, patrol, and traffic management. In the event this is needed, we will ask for assistance from our long-standing partner, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department [FLPD], to provide these temporary services.”
Both Blocker and Schultz stress WMPD is not being absorbed. “Any notion that the WMPD may be absorbed by, or outsourced to, any other agency is false,” Blocker said.
The agreement being brokered is broad, and will cover traffic patrols, major emergencies, and more. For now, the plan is for FLPD to do traffic management, but the department wants to have everything covered so they don’t have to renegotiate if the situation worsens.
This crisis has been building for months, if not years. WMPD has been losing officers to other jurisdictions for better pay and retention incentives. At one point, they were facing 11 open officer positions out of 32. Blocker says WMPD has filled four of them. Two positions are being eliminated, bringing the number of sworn officers to 30. Four vacancies remain and another is likely.
Blocker did not say where the four new officers were in their training. Hiring a police officer is never “plug-and-play.” Even certified officers need to go through training before joining a new department. New officers need to go through the police academy.
Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale already share radio channels to track any problems that cross city lines. FLPD’s SWAT team, bomb squad, and canine units come to Wilton Manors during emergencies. But this agreement is unchartered territory.
Wilton Manors Elementary is “temporarily” losing its WMPD School Resource Officer, who is being reassigned to patrol duties. Blocker says a “Guardian” will be assigned by the school board and will be in radio contact with WMPD in case of emergencies.
Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton declined to comment as the negotiations are ongoing.
As of mid-afternoon Monday, WMPD officers hadn’t been formally informed of any decision on FLPD’s expanded roles.
