Broward County LEO gets Job back after Parkland

[WillBrink]

Broward Sheriffs office is rightly nicknamed COWARD county sheriffs, the adjacent towns PD, Coral Springs PD, rushed to the school and entered actively looking for the suspect, unlike BSO. The BSO SWAT team likewise was less than stellar in their response. The entire LE response was pathetic. Parkland in nothing more than a conglomeration of gated wealthy housing developments and a few strip malls. Thats it, basically just a large housing development, to call itself a town / city is absurd. BSO Parkland cops really don't do anything other than give SUV driving soccer moms speeding tickets when they go a few miles over the limit.

It's well known that words were had and it almost lead to fistycuffs once the Coral Springs guys showed up to find what the BSO standing their with their thumbs up their a$$. It was downplayed afterward but it got around.

[drsal]

Sadly it was everything by design or simply gross incompetence. Neither of which is very good. Having lived and worked in Broward Co. for decades, I suspect political theater with results by prior agreement.



With respect to those involved who failed to do their jobs, I agree. But I don't think you understand how large BSO is and there are too many to count that would have immediately gone into that school if they happened to be the particular SD on scene.

Also BSO changed dramatically years ago when Ken Jenne was county sheriff. It was under his direction that most small PDs, such as Parkland, were absorbed into the BSO because he believed he was moving on to a position called Strong Mayor which was to be created for him just like they had in Dade County. From his new political position he would oversee nearly every PD and FD in Broward county that had come under the control of BSO.

Ken Jenne is also the person who changed the nature of BSO. It was never perfect but he mandated deputies to create fewer case numbers and simply respond without reporting and in those instances where it was necessary to create a case number deputies were directed to under report crime turning felonies into misdemeanors before the case even reached the courts and ignoring many crimes in general.

This created a perception that Ken Jenne was lowering the crime rate in Broward County and laid the groundwork for his BSO to absorb smaller PDs because BSO was clearly more effective at reducing crime even if it was simply a matter of just looking the other way as much as possible.

This also created a "nobody cares" atmosphere within the BSO where doing your job could actually get you in trouble and doing nothing was often safer and more rewarding than doing something which snowballed into policy and procedure, not to mention attitudes, which came together at Parkland.

Everyone wants to blame Scott Israel, but he is a symptom of the problem that began long before he was Sheriff and he simply was carrying on business as usual. Things improved during the Al Lamberti years but when he began accurately reporting crime in Broward County the statistics went way up and he suffered as a result.:

I reside in Parkland, the abortion that occurred there was the result of total incompetence on part of the .gov and LE, the shooters previous
actions had a very long history and I'm sure that numerous incidents in which he was involved were neglected/ignored by the 'authorities. Parkland has a reputation of being a super safe 'town', the reason being most crimes are unreported, any untoward incidences are severely downplayed to maintain that falsehood and justify the obscene property taxes that merits that. It is a safer community than most in south florida, I don't deny that, and is very boring, which appeals to a retired guy like myself. The school shooting that took place did impair its holier than thou, entitled, almost contemptuous attitude of the residents who live here. I value the boredom here, and the relatively safe environment, which is why I maintain a home here; the majority of residents, though, are scumbags.
In response to your previous comment as to the size of BSO, and the areas it encompasses, I'm aware. Perhaps I did a 'broad brush' approach to the LEO's of BSO in my OP, apologies to the good ones.

[SteyrAUG]

I reside in Parkland, the abortion that occurred there was the result of total incompetence on part of the .gov and LE, the shooters previous
actions had a very long history and I'm sure that numerous incidents in which he was involved were neglected/ignored by the 'authorities. Parkland has a reputation of being a super safe 'town', the reason being most crimes are unreported, any untoward incidences are severely downplayed to maintain that falsehood and justify the obscene property taxes that merits that. It is a safer community than most in south florida, I don't deny that, and is very boring, which appeals to a retired guy like myself. The school shooting that took place did impair its holier than thou, entitled, almost contemptuous attitude of the residents who live here. I value the boredom here, and the relatively safe environment, which is why I maintain a home here; the majority of residents, though, are scumbags.
In response to your previous comment as to the size of BSO, and the areas it encompasses, I'm aware. Perhaps I did a 'broad brush' approach to the LEO's of BSO in my OP, apologies to the good ones.

If you live in Parkland, you already know much of what I know. I just don't know how long you have been a Broward Co. resident and if you are aware of what changes happened and when. I can remember when we all thought Nick Navarro was the worst thing that ever happened to BSO. I knew Ron Cochran personally when he was head of the FOP. I knew Israel when he worked for Ft. Lauderdale PD as head of their narcotics enforcement unit (Ft. Lauderdale Raiders).

The Parkland shooting happened one month after I moved from Pompano Beach, FL to Iowa. Having spent a few years working for the Broward County School Board I knew several people who were at the school that day.

[Uni-Vibe]

I am, reluctantly, still with the police on this one.

People are asking the school resource officer and the other deputies to trade their lives for the lives of children of strangers. The officers on the scene had no idea how many shooters there were, where they were, how they were armed, did they have hostages. For all they knew, running into the school meant a high risk of death. That's not what they signed up for, and the public can't be monday morning quarterbacks here.

[1168]

I am, reluctantly, still with the police on this one.

People are asking the school resource officer and the other deputies to trade their lives for children of strangers. The officers on the scene had no idea how many shooters there were, where they were, how they were armed, did they have hostages. For all they knew, running into the school meant a high risk of death. That's not what they signed up for, and the public can't be monday morning quarterbacks here.

It is exactly what they signed up for. Trying to say it isn’t reminds me of the handful of crybabies in 2003.... “I just joined for college..sobbb...”

[Vandal]

I am, reluctantly, still with the police on this one.

People are asking the school resource officer and the other deputies to trade their lives for the lives of children of strangers. The officers on the scene had no idea how many shooters there were, where they were, how they were armed, did they have hostages. For all they knew, running into the school meant a high risk of death. That's not what they signed up for, and the public can't be monday morning quarterbacks here.

I'm not sure if this is another of your troll posts, but I'll bite.

Following the Columbine massacre, single officer response into an active shooter situation has been the standard. Cops are literally hired, trained (in theory, there is some discussion about Broward's active shooter training) paid to respond and handle these exact calls. If an officer or deputy becomes a SRO, they need to be thinking about active shooter response daily. Tragically most don't and think SRO is a cushy way to burn a few yer before retiring, that is what gets us Parkland.

[mark5pt56]

All I have to say is even though I did 30 years, the whole SWAT thing, etc. These guys should be fired, stay fired and if applicable charged. It's not that they forgot to do a report or had a felon bump his head on their pistol, they failed at the most critical moment to protect life which is the primary mission.

I've chased, caught, fought with every type of criminal and continued to do it even after shit flying past my head. Where would we be if all of of the police, fire, military failed like this? You took a job, knowing that you more than likely will be faced with danger and have to saddle up and ride in. Of course you aren't reckless but it is what it is.

[Uni-Vibe]

No troll here. I work with a lot of city policemen and sheriff's deputies. They thought it was unfair for civilians to judge the deputies and call law enforcement cowards. The general consensus I got was that police should do what they can, but aren't there to sacrifice themselves.

Even so, it looks like the problem was a procedural one of missing a deadline, not a judgment on whether this particular deputy did his job or not. Maybe if he gets his job back, he'll have a chance to (for lack if a better word) redeem himself and restore his and the department's reputation?

[WillBrink]

I am, reluctantly, still with the police on this one.

People are asking the school resource officer and the other deputies to trade their lives for the lives of children of strangers. The officers on the scene had no idea how many shooters there were, where they were, how they were armed, did they have hostages. For all they knew, running into the school meant a high risk of death. That's not what they signed up for, and the public can't be monday morning quarterbacks here.

Are you trolling?

[WillBrink]

I'm not sure if this is another of your troll posts, but I'll bite.

Following the Columbine massacre, single officer response into an active shooter situation has been the standard. Cops are literally hired, trained (in theory, there is some discussion about Broward's active shooter training) paid to respond and handle these exact calls. If an officer or deputy becomes a SRO, they need to be thinking about active shooter response daily. Tragically most don't and think SRO is a cushy way to burn a few yer before retiring, that is what gets us Parkland.

But in that PDs case, Israel changed the SOP from "shall" to "may" and as far as I know, it was the only major PD with such language. Under the "leadership" of Israel::

"The policy changes include altering language in what is expected of deputies in active shooting situations to indicate they "shall" attempt to enter the scene and intervene rather than "may," according to an internal memo by Sheriff Scott Israel to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who is the chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. The letter was obtained by the Miami Herald.

"The use of the word 'may' in the BSO policy is ambiguous and does not unequivocally convey the expectation that deputies are expected to immediately enter an active assailant scene where gunfire is active and neutralize the threat," the commission wrote in a draft report of its conclusions released earlier in December.

Under the new policy, which goes into effect Jan. 4, deputies responding to an active shooting "shall attempt to protect the life of innocent persons through immediate tactical intervention to eliminate the threat."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018...3211545866711/

They were also told to stay outside and form a perimeter by the Capt, who also left in disgrace.

From the top down, it was all bad and that one word in their active shooter SOP may have been partly responsible for getting people killed.