Sheriff ’s office won’t be part of task force
Broward Sheriff Scott Israel says his department won’t be a part of a multiagency task force the county is creating to review the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting incident and make recommendations for the future.
Broward Administrator Bertha Henry said the Sheriff’s Office, which has had many questions raised about its actions, is the only agency she has approached so far that has responded negatively.
“It is essential that we come together to collectively understand all of our efforts during this event, connect missing dots, and identify steps to close gaps in our response in the event of a future incident,” Henry wrote in her invitation to various agencies after the commission voted to create a review panel.
Israel told Henry that now is not the time for the Sheriff’s Office to be involved, since the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is doing its own investigation of its actions on Gov. Rick Scott’s orders.
“Until FDLE determines the actual facts of what occurred Feb. 14, our agency is respectfully refraining from participating in any other public reviews of the incident,” Israel wrote to Henry.
Israel expects the FDLE investigation to take about two months. He said after that his department will have “an independent national organization — the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) — conduct a ‘lessons learned’ report for our agency.” Israel said his agency wouldn’t be sitting down with a consultant the county plans to hire to do its own independent investigation until the FDLE and PERF reports are completed.
Commissioners say the county’s study has the potential to be the most objective, since the county — separate from the Sheriff’s Office — had little to do with the shooting response.
The county still hasn’t selected the consultant for its investigation and commissioners Tuesday were at odds over just what the consultant would do and how much it would rely on investigative reports done by other agencies.
“We need a high-level person to look at all of this to bring some credibility back,” Commissioner Michael Udine said. “Everyone is saying it’s somebody else’s fault. We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Henry said the chosen consultant will have a large say in what it looks into, since the county is relying on its expertise.
“I think the best way to do this is to get you the approach from the providers,” Henry told commissioners.
Some firms administrators have spoken with include the TriData division of System Planning Corp., which did a report commissioned by the city of Aurora after the 1999 Columbine shootings in Colorado, and former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who has a consulting company and contacted the county after Udine mentioned him at a commission meeting.
Commissioner Chip LaMarca suggested the Police Foundation out of Washington, D.C., would be worth considering. It is a nonprofit research group that did reports for the Pulse shooting in Orlando and the 2015 shooting attack in San Bernardino, Calif. Commissioner Tim Ryan mentioned the Counter Terrorism Center out of West Point.
Udine asked Henry to make a decision within the next few days so the work can begin.
In other action commissioners:
Took another step toward a November referendum on a penny sales tax increase, directing attorneys to come back with proposed ballot language for a 30-year increase in the tax.
Passed a resolution urging the U.S. Senate to approve the Stop School Violence Act. Commissioners received a letter from many Tuesday, of the families of Stoneman Douglas High students killed in the shooting, saying the legislation includes security measures, allows for the creation of anonymous reporting systems and will make schools safer by funding threat assessment teams.
Approved a plat that allows plans to move forward for the construction of a Walmart on the former KMart site on Oakland Park Boulevard in Oakland Park.
Approved an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for an $8.2 million Miramar Park and Ride facility for the county’s express bus service between Miramar and Miami. The site is northeast of the Miramar Town Center and will include about 550 parking spaces and shelters and charging stations.
lbarszewski@sunsentinel .com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski