Florida cops who responded to a noise complaint at house party ‘cowered away’ after finding out their boss was a guest

April 12, 2021 3oliver

Florida cops backed off a noise complaint at a party after they found out their boss was a guest.
The officers “cowered away” when partygoers told them the sheriff was inside the house.
“You guys do whatever you want. Have a nice night,” one officer said, according to bodycam footage.
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Florida police officers were in for a big surprise after responding to a noise complaint at a house party last Saturday, only to find that a guest at the event was their own boss.

The officers were following up a noise complaint issued by the neighbors of a home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 27, according to the DailyBeast.

But when they arrived, several partygoers outside the house told them that their own boss, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, was, in fact, attending the bash.

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According to bodycam footage of the encounter obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Friday, the officers never actually see their boss but are told repeatedly that he’s inside.

One partygoer tells them they can go around the side of the house to see for themselves, but a deputy responds: “I’m like scared to go…” according to the Sentinel.

To prove the sheriff is there, one of the partygoers pulls out his phone to show pictures. The deputy responds by saying “Oh!” before backing away.

“You guys do whatever you want,” the deputy says after a while, walking away. “Have a nice night.”

Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes, who reviewed the footage, said it shows the deputies appearing to “cower away,” according to the DailyBeast.

Weekes added that the average person “doesn’t get that level of deference from law enforcement when they have that kind of encounter.”

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the deputies did the right thing.

“The deputies responded and determined there was no noise violation,” spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said, according to the Sentinel. “The outcome would have been the same under the same circumstances if someone called in a noise complaint to your home.”

Coleman-Wright said she doesn’t know whether the sheriff was actually at the gathering but that she doesn’t ask about his private life.

Florida has been reopening from a state lockdown since September. Restaurants and bars are permitted to open at 50% capacity at the least and localities also cannot enforce mask mandates.

National health officials are advising against gatherings of 10 or more people. It is unclear how many people were at the party.

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