Awaiting answers
Without question, Israel has much to account for in BSO’s response to the shooting and the complaints it received about shooter Nikolas Cruz in the preceding months. That BSO school resource officer Scot Peterson failed to enter the building to stop the killing is reprehensible, as Israel has said. And questions remain about communication failures, about three deputies who remained outside during the shooting, and about a captain’s call to create a perimeter, rather than pursue the killer.
During an extensive interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board this week, Israel didn’t want to discuss the shooting, though he promised to answer all of our questions after FDLE completes it investigation.
But testimony before a state panel this week suggests part of the confusion at the scene was caused by the county’s fractured and troubled 911 emergency response system, which the cities of Coral Springs and Plantation refuse to join. As it turns out, BSO receives landline emergency calls from Parkland, but cellphone calls go to the Coral Springs Police Department. So when Coral Springs police arrived at the school, they knew what was going on inside, while BSO had to rely on Peterson.
We’ve had our differences with the sheriff, particularly after he came into office six years ago seeking a 14 percent budget increase. BSO’s budget — $872 million this year — consumes about half the county’s property tax revenues. Besides protecting public safety, we’ve encouraged the sheriff to also protect the public purse.
Israel also has developed quite a reputation for hiring friends and family from the political world. And he has an annoying habit of praising his own leadership skills, using words like amazing, unbelievable and excellently. He would be well served to stop tooting his own horn, particularly given the questions about his department’s performance in Parkland.
That said, in the big picture, Israel is leading BSO in the right direction and on a course that reflects our community’s values. … without having to go right to your firearm.”
Israel says the policy change incensed Bell, the union chief.
“He said, and I can quote here, ‘I can’t believe you’ll make us carry another tool on our tool belt. That’s ridiculous and unacceptable.’ What really bothered me was when he said, ‘You’re going to discourage people from using deadly force.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not. … The use of force a deputy uses is dictated by the subject, not the deputy.’ He was very angry. I don’t know that we ever rebounded from that conversation.”