Biography

David Scharf is a thirty-year criminal justice veteran and is currently the Director of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Community Programs. Most of his career has been focused on criminal justice reform with an emphasis on community corrections. He has championed several initiatives to bring awareness to the problem via a community wide collaboration of education, enforcement, legislative and policy improvements, intervention and treatment. He participates in Palm Beach County’s Sober Home Task Force to help reduce the alarmingly high number of overdose deaths. Director Scharf has worked with politicians and agencies at the local, state and federal levels to solicit change in criminal justice policy and to bring much needed funding to Broward County for behavioral health issues. David is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Political Science and has completed extensive graduate coursework in criminal justice administration at both Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University. He is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University’s Executive Criminal Justice Leadership Program and the Florida Corrections Academy. During his career, Director Scharf has been a certified criminal justice instructor in numerous disciplines including defensive tactics, impact weapons and firearms. He was a recipient of the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission’s Outstanding Service Award for his work in developing and implementing accreditation standards for Pretrial Services Agencies in Florida. He has been the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the US Attorney’s Office in Miami for his body of work in offender reentry programming and crime prevention strategies. He has been a member of many criminal justice organizations including the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies, and the Association of Pretrial Professionals of Florida, the Broward County United Way Commission on Substance Abuse, Narcotics Overdose and Prevention Education and others. He represents the Broward Sheriff’s Office on numerous professional boards and committees, has authored numerous articles on non-traditional crime prevention strategies and has presented his findings and strategies at a myriad of national forums.