City Commissioner derides BSO deputy during public meeting
A ceremony honoring BSO deputies had just ended when Tamarac City Commissioner Mike Gelin decided to air out some previous grievances. Gelin proceeds to call out Deputy Joshua Gallardo for, in his words, “falsely arresting” him four years ago.
A ceremony honoring BSO deputies had just ended when Tamarac City Commissioner Mike Gelin decided to air out some previous grievances. Gelin proceeds to call out Deputy Joshua Gallardo for, in his words, “falsely arresting” him four years ago.
It was supposed to be a glorious moment for Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Gallardo. Standing in the chamber before the Tamarac City Commission, he was about to be praised for his work in the arrest of a gang member wanted for murder.
But one commissioner had an old beef with Gallardo. Things got ugly fast.
“You probably don’t remember me but you’re the police officer who falsely arrested me four years ago,” Commissioner Mike Gelin told Gallardo. “You lied on a police report. I believe you’re a rogue police officer, you’re a bad police officer and you don’t deserve to be here.”
It was, in a small-town way, a move reminiscent of Kanye West upstaging Taylor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards, with Gelin hijacking a celebration to air personal grievances. The announcement during the Wednesday meeting stunned many in the chamber and has ignited the law enforcement community.
As Gelin spoke, Gallardo stood only a few feet away, looking directly at the commissioner. The deputy didn’t say a word, responded with a thumbs-up gesture and walked away.
Tamarac Mayor Michelle Gomez then grabbed the microphone and tried to make amends. “We appreciate as a whole BSO and everything you do for us,” she said.
Her effort didn’t quell the backlash from the Sheriff’s Office, which patrols the Northwest Broward city of 60,000-plus. That same day, Sheriff Gregory Tony met with the commissioner and deemed his actions “unacceptable,” according to Miami Herald news partner CBS 4.
By Friday morning, a chorus of law enforcement officers were condemning Gelin. The online publication Law Enforcement Today ran a story with the headline: “Criminal city commissioner attacks arresting officer during awards ceremony — ‘You are a bad cop.’”
Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Association President Jeff Bell also issued a blistering statement, saying Gelin’s stance violated the city’s ethics rules and has borrowed a page from the “left wing Democratic Congressional playbook.”
In a press release, Bell called for operations that employ Gelin’s services as a lobbyist to reconsider.
Reached Friday, the union president said if Gelin had an issue with Gallardo, he should have taken him aside and discussed it with him, instead of berating him in front of the entire city.
“It’s like an anchor doing the evening news tonight and talking badly about his neighbor,” said Bell.
Gelin’s anger at Gallardo stemmed from the commissioner’s arrest back in 2015. Broward County court documents show that Gallardo arrested Gelin, who was not yet a commissioner, as he used his cellphone video to record police actions as they responded to a battery incident.
According to his arrest report, Gelin “failed to comply with [the deputy’s] commands to move from the area.” Though the case was later dropped, Gelin remains perturbed about the incident four years later.
On Friday, Tamarac Mayor Gomez said she was “astonished” by Gelin’s comments. Though on a video of the meeting someone can be heard egging Gelin on, the mayor said she had no clue the commissioner planned to berate the deputy prior to the meeting. She said the city attorney would review Gelin’s actions.
“This is not how we treat employees or people,” Gomez said.
Gelin had not responded to an interview request with the Miami Herald by Friday afternoon. He texted CBS 4, saying he’s ready to move on.
“I had a productive meeting with Sheriff Tony yesterday afternoon and we will move forward in a positive and constructive manner,” Gelin said.
C. Isaiah Smalls II is a reporter covering breaking and trending news for the Miami Herald. Previously, he worked for ESPN’s The Undefeated as part of their inaugural class of Rhoden Fellows. He is a graduate of both Columbia University and Morehouse College.
Chuck Rabin, writing news stories for the Miami Herald for the past three decades, covers cops and crime. Before that he covered the halls of government for Miami-Dade and the city of Miami. He’s covered hurricanes, the 2000 presidential election and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting. On a random note: Long before those assignments, Chuck was pepper-sprayed covering the disturbances in Miami the morning Elián Gonzalez was whisked away by federal authorities.
