Pines commissioner hasn’t returned badge weeks after unanimous vote. What we know
A Pembroke Pines commissioner has not returned a ceremonial police badge, according to emails between city officials, weeks after the City Commission unanimously voted to prohibit the items.
The emails include correspondence from Police Chief Jose Vargas stating the department had not received the badge as of Thursday, April 30.
At the April 15 City Commission meeting, officials unanimously approved a resolution that prohibits commissioners from issuing ceremonial badges and encourages elected officials to voluntarily return any previously issued badges.
The resolution stems from a May 2025 incident at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, where Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz allegedly misused the badge to question students.
Emails indicate Schwartz purchased the ceremonial badge for $75 through “personal funds.”
The order was placed Nov. 19, 2012, and he received the badge on Jan. 25, 2013.
Schwartz did not respond to requests for comment by the Pembroke Pines News asking whether he still has the badge or plans to return it. The Pembroke Pines Police Department said it would not be able to confirm if the badge was returned until administrative offices reopen on Monday, May 4.
The Pembroke Pines News also reached out to City Manager Charles F. Dodge for comment and has not received a response.
During the April 15 meeting, Mayor Angelo Castillo asked Schwartz whether he planned to return his badge.
“I’ll coordinate with the city administration to ensure the badge is properly documented and verified, and I want to make sure the process is handled responsibly,” Schwartz said.
While working as an adjunct instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and teaching aviation classes at Flanagan High, Schwartz confronted a group of students and, during the interaction, pulled a badge from his wallet, Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators found.
Vice Mayor Michael Hernandez, who proposed the resolution in March, has been vocal in his criticism of the incident.
“Although he was essentially terminated from that instructor role after the incident, I am very concerned that he promised to return the badge at our April 15 meeting but has yet to do so,” Hernandez said in a post on Facebook. “Why? Is he still going around our city carrying it? If so, for what purpose?”
Schwartz was under formal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with the case later reviewed by the State Attomey’s Office Public Corruption Unit on July 16.
According to a closeout memorandum from State Attorney Harlod F. Pryor’s office, prosecutors declined to pursue charges, “while the evidence supports a finding of a technical violation of Florida § 843.08 and poor judgment by Schwartz, the matter does not support criminal prosecution under the standards set forth by applicable law.”
