What if PBSO farmed out its law enforcement to the Broward County Sheriff when we needed them most?

Back in 2008 the City of Lake Worth disbanded its City police department and gave those duties to Sheriff Bradshaw and PBSO. Many people who live in the City now have no recollection of those terrible days when gangs ruled the City. PBSO was given a big assignment and they did their job. They were able to stabilize the City, restore order, and allow the residents to live their lives much more peacefully than was possible with the Lake Worth PD.

It was not a good time living in Lake Worth leading up to 2008/2009. After PBSO has done their work and regained control from the gangs an effort began to get them out of the City; the response by the citizens was an overwhelming rejection of that idea and the result was much back-pedaling by people like former Commissioner Mulvehill and the former city manager, Susan Stanton. To this day, many still recall how the people made their voice heard: "Keep PBSO!"

You can conclude that PBSO is a major institution in Palm Beach County (PBC) that did what it was supposed to do. But there was another 'institution' in PBC during that same time period in PBC that did the opposite: The Palm Beach Post. In a cost-saving move they closed down their printing presses and farmed that work out to the Sun Sentinel in Broward County. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Like many newspapers throughout the country, the Post downsized its newsroom by more than 30 percent in 2008 and 2009. At the same time it closed its printing press. The Post's print edition is now printed in Broward County by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and shipped north to Palm Beach County for daily distribution.

Imagine how much different south Dixie Hwy. in West Palm Beach would be today if the Post hunkered down and fought to keep all those jobs? But they didn't. Think about all those businesses that relied on the Post: the restaurants, the service jobs, and all the other small businesses that took a big hit. How many lives were disrupted by that decision? That is incalculable but it would be a big number. The little City of Lake Worth is only minutes from the Post's headquarters. This City was also affected to a great degree by the Post's decision to farm out all those jobs to Broward County.

PBSO didn't have the option of cutting and running in PBC. And if they even suggested farming out some of their law enforcement work to the Broward County Sheriff there would have been outrage, including from the editor's at the Post no doubt. Fast forward to 2015/2016: Who is the biggest critic of Sheriff Bradshaw and PBSO? The Palm Beach Post. Ironic isn't it?

A question: There was a huge spike in the homicide rate in PBC in 2015. Is it possible that some gangs and other criminal elements took advantage of the Post's almost-daily criticisms of Sheriff Bradshaw/PBSO and felt more freedom to go about their acts of revenge against other gangs and their enemies? It would be interesting to see if there is any correlation between when the Post began their "Line of Fire" series and if there was an increase in the crime rate in PBC. Maybe some enterprising reporter can take on that task.

Here in Lake Worth the critics of PBSO, the usual suspects, are ramping up their rhetoric once again to restore a City police department. They rely on short memories and/or a lack of knowledge about our City's recent history. Don't be fooled. They want PBSO and Sheriff Bradshaw out of this City because they are effective and PBSO isn't going to cut and run like some other county institution would to save a few dollars on printing costs.

Sign from a protest outside PBSO District 14 headquarters. Many Anarchists were present that day, including a former city commissioner. Can you guess which one?