Pompano Beach City Commission District 3 candidate Alison Fournier called a senior citizen safety patrol a “shit show“ while proclaiming “we would all be safer with less 80 year olds on the street.” Fournier’s remarks accompanied a photograph of two senior citizens driving a Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) Citizen Observer Patrol car. The longtime BSO program trains volunteers to perform various services across Broward County.

According to the BSO website, the Citizens Observer Patrol (COP) helps prevent crimes before they even occur. The COP Program is a “volunteer group sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office that uses a simple approach to safeguarding neighborhoods through residents’ involvement. COP volunteers are local residents who help BSO fight crime by patrolling their community, looking out for suspicious activity or potential hazards and offering assistance to local residents.” Some of the duties of COP volunteers include, “include performing checks on unoccupied residences (at the owner’s request), checking on elderly or homebound residents (as requested) and reporting potential problems and neighborhood hazards to BSO.”

After undergoing rigorous background checks and four hours of training, COP volunteers wear uniforms and drive marked vehicles.

In February 2015, Alison Fournier snapped a photograph of two COP volunteers in their marked vehicle. Fournier wrote, “Back in South Florida…personally, I think we would all be safer with less 80 year olds on the street. I hope my tax dollars are not contributing to this shit show.”

Clearly, her Ivy League education did not teach Fournier to respect her elders. While her campaign biography lists the name of her high school, it simply states she “pursued bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering and business.” Ms. Fournier attended Princeton and Harvard.

You would think such a highly-educated person would recognize the value of senior citizens helping law enforcement keep Pompano Beach safe.

Pompano Beach is home to a large senior citizen population. A simple fact Fournier must surely know.

Now, Fournier’s post is hurting Pompano Beach seniors. A tipster tells REDBROWARD that a senior COP volunteer was in tears after she heard about Fournier’s views.

REDBROWARD wanted to ask Alison Fournier about her views on senior citizens driving on the streets of Pompano Beach.

Fournier said she had “no recollection” making the Facebook post. Fournier claimed she had not been on Facebook “in years.” After hinting that someone else made the post, Fournier hung up.

Fournier, a former Democrat, is the latest left-leaning South Florida politician mocking senior citizens. Earlier this month, REDBROWARD reported how Tamarac mayoral candidate Elberg Mike Gelin lamented the large numbers of senior residents in his city while addressing an auditorium filled with hundreds of senior citizens.

Fournier is challenging Pompano Beach Commissioner Tom McMahon this November.