| Associated Press |
| A brown pelican covered in BP oil |
Broward Sheriff's Office Commander Alvin Pollock, who is under internal investigation for allegedly providing special treatment to an arrested Miami Dolphins player last week, contacted the Property Appraiser's Office recently on behalf of star linebacker Karlos Dansby.
Sources said that Pollock -- who in addition to his work for BSO also works for the Dolphins as a security expert -- contacted the appraiser's office and said he had someone who was going to buy a home in Broward and wanted his property records to be held confidential from the public.
Then Pollock, who has been reassigned from his job overseeing BSO operations at the courthouse while the investigation continues, had Dansby call the office. Dansby recently signed a five-year, $43 million deal with the Dolphins after a trade from the Arizona Cardinals.
"We asked [Dansby] if was in law enforcement, and he said that he was a football star," said Ron Gunzburger, general counsel and director of administration for Property Appraiser Lori Parrish. "We told him he wasn't eligible, and that was the end of it."
State law, you see, allows present or former law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and even firefighters to have their names and properties stricken from the appraiser's website. Not football players, though. Gunzburger said that in the past, an attorney for NFL quarterback Brady Quinn had also
inquired about confidentiality and been denied.
A BSO veteran with more than 30 years' experience, probably should have known better than to even ask. BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal said he couldn't comment on Pollock while the internal investigation continues.
Dansby told me today that he wanted confidentiality for safety purposes (he said he was worried about crime) and that he was referred to Pollock by another Dolphins security worker. "I just asked about it," said Dansby. "I just inquired about it, and then I never continued with it or anything."
While Pollock's help of Dansby might be seen as innocuous, it will likely become part of the BSO internal investigation into special treatment given to Dolphins defensive end Phillip Merling last week. After Merling was arrested for battery on his pregnant girlfriend, he was let out of jail via a side door to avoid media attention and then given a ride home, allegedly by Pollock.Sheriff Al Lamberti talked a big game in a news conference about how he was going to investigate the incident and crack down on it. But Pollock is popular in some Broward political circles, particularly among judges, so it will be interesting to see if Lamberti has any follow-through on his tough rhetoric.
After all, his former executive officer, Lt. David Benjamin, is still in BSO's employ after it was learned back in October that he escorted Ponzi schemer -- and Rothstein's cash -- out of the country when he fled to Morocco. Benjamin also accepted at least $30,000 in payments from Rothstein to a consulting firm the lieutenant had established with Rothstein's help, according to sources.
Benjamin remains employed at the Sheriff's Office.
