A photo showing members of South Florida’s Broward County Sheriff’s Office standing around a sheriff’s office-branded Lamborghini Aventador has been shared thousands of times in recent days.
Complaints have surfaced about the The problem is, the department doesn’t own the car.
After news surfaced that a Broward sheriff’s deputy chose not to enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz fatally shot 17 people inside, the online public has voiced concern with how Sheriff Scott Israel and his department handled the shooting.
Israel has faced a growing number of calls for his resignation.
If purchased today, a Lamborghini Aventador would run the sheriff’s office about $400,000. Many sharing or reacting to the photo online have expressed concern about the use of such funds.
“Is it possible the Broward County Sheriff's office has misplaced priorities?,” one Facebook user wrote in a post that has been shared more than 23,000 times.
Here’s the catch, though. The photo appears to be from 2014, when a Miami luxury car company lent the car to the sheriff’s office for a Toys in the Sun run. According to a Broward Palm Beach New Times article that clarified the story four years ago, the car was wrapped at no cost to the department.
From their article:
"Florida statutes specify that only cars owned and operated by sheriffs departments can use their logos and color schemes, and that it's unlawful for cars to be marked like law enforcement cars unless properly authorized. But BSO got around those by drawing up a written contract that looks like a de facto rental agreement, suggesting the agency is renting the car for $10. The contract specified that the car had to be towed to and from the event and that the wrap had to be removed after 72 hours."
So, no, the Broward sheriff doesn’t have – and never did have – a Lamborghini in use.
