‘I’m here to serve’: New Sheriff Gregory Tony says he’s a cop, not a politician

Gregory Tony on Friday took the reins of the Broward Sheriff’s Office in the shadow of one of the bleakest chapters in the community’s history, and immediately declared, “I’m here to serve.”

With all eyes on him, the new sheriff introduced himself as anything but a politician.

“I am not here for any type of political grandiose agenda,” he said. “I’m here to serve. I’m here to provide you with the best leadership I can provide.”

Tony, 40, a Coral Springs police veteran who lives in Boca Raton, was appointed to lead the Sheriff’s Office after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Scott Israel amid heavy criticism over the agency’s response to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Tony had nothing but praise for the agency and its employees.

One of the most vocal of the grieving Parkland parents was a driving force behind Tony’s appointment. Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was one of the 17 murder victims, said Tony’s was among the names he asked DeSantis to consider to replace Israel, whose leadership was criticized after the mass shooting.

Pollack said Friday that he and Tony met at a CrossFit gym in Coral Springs about eight years ago.

“The guy’s not into politics,” Pollack said. “He’s just a law-enforcement type of guy. … I’m going to help him. I’m going to make sure he succeeds. Whatever has to be done and whoever has to get around Greg Tony, the sheriff, we’re going to make it happen and we’re going to make it successful. We’re going to bring back morale to BSO.”

Tony is a Philadelphia native who attended Tallahassee Community College before transferring to Florida State University.

At Florida State, Tony earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice in 2002.

Before joining the Coral Springs Police Department in 2005, Tony worked briefly for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, dealing with contracts. He also worked with the state’s Department of Corrections, working in education for inmates. In job applications, he admitted trying marijuana as a teenager.

In Coral Springs, he was on the SWAT team for five years and worked in narcotics investigation, burglary investigation and street intelligence. He held the rank of sergeant for three years, leaving Coral Springs Police in 2016.

He described his career as one of public service “in the dark, away from the public light, simply doing my job to enforce the laws of this great state.”

According to public records, he has been registered as a Democrat and as a Republican at different points in his life. The most recent information from Palm Beach County lists him as a member of the GOP.

Tony left the Coral Springs department to focus full-time on his business, Blue Spear Solutions, which he started in 2015, while he was still at the police department.

Blue Spear Solutions provides training to prepare for active-shooter and mass casualty incidents, and provides threat assessments on schools and other businesses.

His company created the first online curriculum for bleeding-control training and certification to teach people how to respond in a mass casualty situation, he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel this week.

“Our training platform is being used by thousands of people from across the world and we wish to educate our own schools rapidly,” he said.

Tony runs the company with his wife, Holly, a registered nurse. They married in 2006.

On the day of the Stoneman Douglas shooting, Tony took to his company’s Facebook page to express his thoughts.

“My passion for developing active shooter training for civilians was derived from years of receiving some of the best training made available at this [Coral Springs] department,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to know that our community was impacted in such a manner. Like many, I hoped this day would never come.”

Last August, Tony and his company conducted a workshop training hundreds of school personnel in Transylvania, N.C., on stopping bleeding during an active shooter incident, according to the Transylvania Times newspaper and a promotional video from the company.

During the news conference introducing him Friday, Tony was heralded as the right person to bring “accountability” to a department still smarting from criticism over how deputies responded to the Parkland massacre.

Tony’s experience with active-shooting training and school-safety programs resonated with DeSantis and parents of victims killed at the school.

“You couldn’t have anyone who would be more tailor-made for this position,” DeSantis said during his remarks.

In addition to Pollack, other parents joined in offering their expectations for the job they want to see Tony do.

Ryan Petty, who is serving on the state commission investigating the shooting, said he had multiple conversations with Tony this week before the announcement. “I’m excited about who he is and what he brings,” Petty said. “I know he will make sure the policies are right, there’s effective training and every deputy has the equipment they need to be a professional law enforcement agency.”

After Friday’s news conference, Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter was killed at the school, said there needs to be proper training and accountability brought to the Sheriff’s Office, because “a lack of training for deputies led to the death of my daughter.”

She added, “I think Greg Tony will do an outstanding job.”

Those who’ve worked with Tony said the new governor made a sound choice.

“He’s a fantastic guy, great character, we hated to see him go,“ said Coral Springs Chief Clyde Parry, who was Tony’s boss when he resigned from the force. “I think if he was still here, he would be a lieutenant or maybe a captain. He had a bright future, he really did.”

Staff writer Megan O’Matz contributed to this report.

.ss-blurb-fblike{
padding-left:10px;
}
.ss-blurb-fblike-heading {
font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;
font-weight: bold;
}