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Reports: Sheriff's brass knew of falsified records

FORT LAUDERDALE - Prosecutors have released sworn statements alleging that Broward sheriff's deputies falsely cleared cases because of a high-pressure culture aimed at containing embarrassing information and avoiding scrutiny of their records.

John deGroot, former special assistant to the sheriff's inspector general, told prosecutors in August that sheriff's officials told him "fudging numbers" was a common practice, according to documents released Monday.

DeGroot testified he discussed the reporting problem last year with the deputy who compiles crime statistics for the agency's accountability system and was told "nobody wants to hear about this." In July, deGroot said, Col. Tom Carney, a top commander, told him "everybody fudges the numbers."

Prosecutors have investigated allegations that deputies systematically falsified crime reports, marking dozens of cases solved by attributing them to people who did not commit them. This made Broward's clearance rate appear better than it was.

Those people - most of them suspects in other cases - were never prosecuted for the crimes they didn't commit. However, because the cases were marked solved, investigations were closed and the actual perpetrators were never found. Most of the falsely cleared cases were property crimes, such as burglaries and thefts.

Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne said in July his deputies improperly closed about 100 cases over three years. Last month he announced the transfer of 29 detectives and sergeants and the retirements of Carney, Lt. Col. Tom Brennan, who headed countywide operations, and two other top officials.

The State Attorney's Office has charged two detectives with multiple counts of official misconduct in using "exceptional clearances," or instances in which a perpetrator cannot be charged because of special circumstance, to get rid of cases.

Internal investigators first started investigating crime classification problems in 2003.

FORT LAUDERDALE - A former aide in Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne's office has told prosecutors the sheriff tried to use old drunken-driving arrests to embarrass the Miami Herald reporter who covers his agency.

John deGroot, former special assistant to the sheriff's inspector general, told prosecutors in a sworn statement that Jenne asked him to point out to the newspaper and other publications the booking and arrest records of Wanda DeMarzo, the Herald's police reporter in Broward County.

DeMarzo said she has been arrested three times since 2000 on DUI charges and convicted once, in 2001. She said she has been sober for several years.

Jim Leljedal, a sheriff's spokesman, rejected deGroot's allegations, saying DeMarzo's "criminal history was (already) common knowledge in news circles." Dave Wilson, managing editor of the Herald edition that covers Broward County, said the paper knew of DeMarzo's background and "stands firmly behind" her.

[Last modified February 9, 2005, 00:43:19]