Sheriff: Deputies don’t slack off in Parkland

Parkland may be an upscale suburb, but it’s no “shady rest retirement home” where deputies go to finish their careers, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel told a packed crowd at City Hall.

Israel aimed to debunk any suggestion that because the city is ranked one of Florida’s safest cities, it’s where deputies go to quietly fade into retirement. The Sheriff’s Office is committed to making “Parkland as safe as humanly possible,” he said.

In front of students who said at night they still hear the sound of gunfire, and the parents of students still shaken by the what-ifs, he announced there would be some changes.

There’ll be a new executive lieutenant assigned to Parkland with a military background to replace somebody retiring, a dedicated email address in the works for Parkland families to reach out to his agency directly, and deputies who patrol schools will at all times.

The Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 people dead and 17 wounded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School still has many unanswered questions. Chief among them: Why did the Broward sheriff’s deputy assigned to protect the school wait outside during the bloodbath? And did several others wait alongside him?

A week after the shooting, Israel said the school resource officer, Deputy Scot Peterson, should have “went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.”

Video footage showed Peterson did none of that, Israel said. The sheriff confirmed he also is investigating the claim that others stayed outside, too, as reported from Coral Springs cops who were there and the first to enter the school.

Sheriff’s Col. Jim Polan addressed the school resource officer’s alleged lack of action to the City Commission, saying “we cannot provide individual level of courage. That comes from here,” he said, with his hand carry rifles on his heart.

Although deputies receive the training and equipment, they never know how they’ll truly respond in a crisis, he said. “You don’t know till that day comes,” he said after Wednesday’s meeting.

The Sheriff’s Office said two deputies are under investigation for how they handled potential warnings about Cruz, including one from November in which a caller said Nikolas Cruz “could be a school shooter in the making.” field adjoining a middle school, and authorities “didn’t want the bad guys to leave, and didn’t want the parents to get in” to a dangerous situation.

Jordan, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, declined to comment, citing the pending investigation. Wednesday. “They failed to serve and protect our community,” people wrote.

The city’s five-year contract with the Sheriff’s Office expires Sept. 30, 2019. The city began sheriff’s services in March 2004 and this year paid $7.7 million for the patrols.

The city is not jumping to any decisions. “The city’s posture regarding BSO is to make decisions based on complete information, and we simply don’t have that yet,” said city spokesman Todd DeAngelis. “We will look closely at FDLE’s investigation, see what information comes forth from that, and make an informed decision on the best course of action moving forward.”

Gov. Rick Scott has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response to the Parkland school shooting.

Israel left several reporters waiting in the lobby at City Hall by walking out a back door after privately meeting with Parkland families Wednesday night. In that meeting, Israel lamented to residents that not enough deputies were assigned to patrol in Parkland.

Polan said after the private meeting that staffing levels have not grown since 2005, although the city has more residents.

Public records show the City Commission had actually authorized adding new deputy positions to the force. The records show 10 deputies were added since 2012.