Florida: Lawyer's hiring of city police for personal security raises questions

By Brittany Wallman and Jon Burstein
Sun-Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — High-profile attorney Scott Rothstein, concerned about security since a friend and colleague was strangled in March 2008, is paying city police to guard his home 24 hours a day - a unique arrangement that could cost him almost $400,000 year.

"Until you're in the position that someone close to you is murdered by someone else that you trusted, you don't understand how it turns your life upside down," Rothstein said. Rothstein has been paying to have a uniformed officer in a marked police car outside his home in a gated community since April.

The cost: $1,080 a day, $394,200 a year.

Officers often work special details for businesses, but Rothstein is the only private citizen in Fort Lauderdale to have round-the-clock police protection. Police Chief Frank Adderley said the Rothstein duty is within department policy, which requires that anyone hiring police be free of felonies, and of good moral character.

Criminal justice experts said Rothstein's security detail is unusual. The Broward Sheriff's Office, which patrols 14 cities and unincorporated areas, said deputies have temporarily guarded homes, but never on an ongoing basis like at Rothstein's.

Mayor Jack Seiler first said he was concerned it could be perceived as personal bodyguarding, which is forbidden because it could give one person a special bond or lead to special treatment.

"I see the problem with the perception, and I see that it could look troubling to some people," he said last week.

Seiler said he later met with city officials and concluded that Rothstein's detail is by the book, and presents no problems. He said he has "tremendous" confidence the city officers' "judgment would not be clouded by this detail."

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Potential victims of Scott Rothstein can contact the FBI by e-mail at rothstein.investment@ic.fbi.gov.
Or they can call 800-CALLFBI (800-225-5324).