PBC Sheriff Ric Bradshaw on safety for the Jewish community

Bradshaw tells us that his agency has been sending more patrols near both Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, Joel, Malcolm Ford,w J and O dot com and the
Florida News Network and we have PalmBeach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw on the line.
Thank you for joining me, Noproblem anytime. So, we had
an attack on Israel by Iran.Of course, Israel already has been under
attack since October seventh, seventh bythe terror group of months, and now

(00:24):
you had Iran send somewhere to threehundred missiles and drones their way, ninety
nine percent of which were shot downwith the help of allies, including the
US. I wanted to reach outto you first ball and just kind of
find out do you have any wordsof advice for members of the Jewish community,

(00:46):
really anybody else that might feel sometension. Also, we know that
some of the other counties have saidthe sheriff's offices in the Treasure Coast that
you know there are increasing patrols nearthe near Senegague and doing different things.
So we wanted to check in withyou and see what type of response has

(01:06):
gone on. Okay, first ofall, let's kind of roll back the
clock a little bit. We've beenaddressing the anti ascimitism here in the county
for some months before the original ithappened over Israel. You got a neo
Nazi group that was throwing literature inyours and putting up imprints on buildings with

(01:30):
lasers, and you know, westarted addressing that early on. In fact,
we worked with the legislature up thereto get the penalty enhanced and went
from a misdemeanor to a felony.So you know, we've been keeping an
eye on the anti Semitic issues thathave been going on. Now, the

(01:52):
big advantage that we have here inPobbach County is we're still the lead agency
for regional, domestic, whole landsecurity for all the South. That gives
our intelligence gathering and our networking withintelligence groups a huge advantage over most agencies.
So within minutes after the original attackhappened at Israel, we were notified

(02:15):
as something is going on in theMiddle East. It involved Israel. So
our initial response was to increase ourfootprint at all of the religious institutions,
but in particularly the synagogues and themosque because you got a segment of the
population that we'll use that to attackon both sides of the issue. So

(02:38):
and we've been doing that since sinceday one, we know when the special
events are going to be. Wenetwork with the security people for all of
the Jewish institutions, not to mentionthe fact that we also network with ADL,
JDL, the FBI, you know, all of the information gathering to

(02:59):
know if there's a locally based onwhat the threat is nationally. So you
know, we've been on top ofthis issue from the very beginning and we
still are. There's not a hardlya week or day goes by where we
don't have communications with the Jewish IntelligenceGathering Network and those organizations that track anti

(03:23):
Semitism. So I think you know, our response is what it should be.
We're well prepared to do what weneed to do. But here's another
issue that has arisen because of what'sgoing on. You've got Palestinians and you've
got the israel people. They're allgoing to have demonstrations. They all want

(03:45):
to demonstrate, which is fine.We don't have a problem with that,
and we will make it to whereit's going to be a safe environment because
we do two things. One,we keep the group separated. It's your
side of the street over here.For the Palestinians, it's your side over
to hear the street from the Israelisand you're not going to mix it up.
Say what you want to say,get your message out. But here's

(04:06):
the big thing. Don't go inthe street. If you go in the
streets, you're going to go tojail. You do not have the right
to inhibit public transportation, emergency vehiclesand people trying to get to where they
need to go. We are tellingthat another we Yeah, and I'm glad
you met that in other states withthe Palestinian UH marches and the you know,

(04:31):
and and the protests and gosh,I think it was New York just
just this week that had a situationlike that. Yeah. But the frendom
a speech gives you the right toget your message out in a safe and
orderly manner, and we will wewill make sure that we assist you in
order to do that. But youare not, and I repeat, you

(04:54):
are not going to block the streets. How do Ambelusis get to where they
need to go? How do peoplethey get to go to the doctor,
How do they get to go wherethey need to go to It's their right
to be able to transfer to thesestreets. It's not their right to block
them. So that's that's a bigno, no, don't block the streets.
We'll let you get your message out, but don't do that. So

(05:16):
getting back to the patrols, youknow by the synagogues in Moscow, I
mean speaking of the synagogues that Passoveris next week and it starts up on
Monday, So that would be asituation where you would definitely any of the
synagogues where I mean obviously if it'sin a city limit, then that that
city's police department would probably be bein Charlotte that but they I would think

(05:41):
sometimes if they if they need tohelp, depending on the size of that
city or the municipality, they mightreach out to you, correct, right,
yeah, absolutely, you know,and we will supply with whatever they
need. So, you know,part of staying in touch with the security
people for each of the religious institutionsthere is is to know what special events
are happening Passover or you're going tohave a large crowd, are you going

(06:03):
to have a special ceremony, andthen we ramp up accordingly, and what
would be your message for somebody,you know, a member of the Jewish
faith for example, that is maybeeven though they're hearing this and that you
know, the patrols will be there, but they're still kind of concerned about
going and exercising their religious freedom,even just on the Sabbath, you know,

(06:26):
even just on a on a regularSaturday, not even Passover. You
know, what would you say tothis? I would say, I would
say, do what you normally woulddo. Don't be afraid. See the
terrorists, that's what they want.They want you to be afraid. That's
that's how they do things. Whydo you think that they videotape all of
these horrendous acts that they do andput them out on the internet. Is

(06:47):
so people will be afraid of themand be terrorized and change their daily routine.
So you know, my message iswe're going to protect you. We're
going to make sure that we cankeep you safe as we can keep you.
So don't let these people win.Go about your normal routine and your
and your daily business and don't beafraid. I just want to hit on

(07:10):
a couple of other things if youcan. The you guys held I'm looking
at your Facebook page tbs O PoumpachCounty Sheriff's off. The facebook page held
a community forum at at King's Pointat theater obviously in Delray Beach, obviously
a an elderly hunger we should saysenior senior community. Ye had over one

(07:31):
hundred and ten d'es don't I don'tknow if you were there specifically, but
what are what are some of theHow often does your agency do these types
of events and what types of thingsare covered? Well, we do them
all over the place because you know, the people that are running the scams,
they're targeting people that are later onin their years because their cock end
of ability is not as sharp andas the younger people, and they're able

(07:56):
to take advantage of. So wetry to get into these communities and say
listen, you know, if youget a call from somebody that says,
you know, we're with the sheriff'soffice, we got a war for your
arrest because you didn't go to juryduty, that's a scam. Hang up,
right, Because we don't call peopleon the phone say we got a
war for you. We come aknock on your door, right and you

(08:16):
know, be aware of the differentscams that are out there. So that's
a big thing with us contractors.You know, say it, I'll fix
this, I'll fix that. Whatyou need to check on as far as
hiring somebody like that. So there'sthere's a lot of different things that we
get into these communities and say,hey, this is the information you need

(08:37):
to have. If you feel uncomfortableabout something, you can call us right
and we'll help you out making thedecisions you need to make, but be
aware of what's going on around you. So that's a big thing and we
do it quite often. Yeah,you also had that recently that there was
that Robert ing I think it's RobertIngram. I forget the name is Sergeant
Ingram scam that you know they weresending text metes in voicemails and you know

(09:01):
from the from the Point and Beachunit of the of p b S O.
Uh see these these people that dothese scams. I mean, look,
don't think that the bad guys arestupid. They're very smart at this.
They clone a phone number. Theycan actually go on the internet seat
of phone numbers for the agency,pull up different officers and deputies names,

(09:22):
and they clone the phone number froman off shore phone number and use the
name of the person that's on theinternet. So when somebody looks it up
and says, oh well, that'slegitimate because that's the person that works there.
No, it's not. You gotto you got to base your decision
and what's going on based on whatthey tell you, not on who you

(09:43):
think is calling you. Again,no one, no one in law enforcement
is going to call you on thephone to say we want you to meet
in the bary lot and bring giftcards because we got a war for your
arrest. It don't work like that. You just come and arrest. Yeah,
if we got a ward for you, we have a specially you look
that does that, We'll come aknock on your door. Uh. And

(10:07):
then and then I know I'm gonnalet you run here in a minute because
I know you have something going ontoday for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
Yet about the boards side, well, you know, Joe, I'm telling
you, people don't realize the stressand the workloads that the communication people were

(10:28):
under. We did one point twomillion calls for service. And you know,
these men and women that work inthere, it's high stress. It's
very active. They've got to makea lot of decisions. But they're they're
the first contact the public has,what they call so their demeanor, how
they handle things and not getting peopleall wiled up because they're cop cool and

(10:52):
collected on this end means a lot. So you know, Telecommunications Week is
import to us to say thank youfor what they do. And I think
we give them a little lunch orsomething, but let them know that we're
thinking about them and we know howhard their job is. And I know
that there are some some winners ofawards too that you'll be celebrating as well.

(11:16):
So yeah, but all right,when you say one point two million,
is that is that all time oris that in a specific period of
time. No, it's a hallsa year, in a year, so
over ay calls in one year.Absolutely. Wow, that's not well,
we're a busy organization. You know. People forget we're the largest county east

(11:37):
of the Mississippi of the United Statesplan wise. We've got about one point
eight million people. It's gay.Yeahs is large in land Masks or large
in population. Yeah, large landMasks. We got about one point eight
million. It's a lot of alot of a lot to cover. Yeah,
tell you, yep, you canbelieve it. And before we wrap

(11:58):
up, you have anything else.No, I appreciate you getting the information
out and like I said, peoplejust need to feel comfortable. We're doing
the absolute best we can do tokeep them safe, all right, Sheriff
for Bradshaw, Palm Beach County Sheriff'sOffice, Thank you for joining me schedule anytime