Broward outlines plan to examine massacre

Broward County kicked off its own effort Thursday to determine what was done wrong and what was done right before, during and after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.

The county’s newly formed Stoneman Douglas task force met with representatives of the Police Foundation, the consultant firm hired by the county to pull together the results of all the other investigations now underway and offer its own conclusions and recommendations.

“Each of you has a perspective about what happened that day that’s important,” County Administrator Bertha Henry told the task force members. “We need all of the voices to be at the table to help us get this right going forward.”

The county also unveiled a new online site, broward.org/ msdtaskforce/, where it will post available documents regarding the Stoneman Douglas shooting investigations.

The Police Foundation brings impressive credentials to its charge to study the Feb. 14 Parkland shootings that killed 17 and injured 17 others, having done previous reports for the Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando,

the San Bernardino terrorist shootings in California, Uber driver shootings in Kalamazoo, Mich., and a prison riot in Delaware.

Frank Straub, who heads the foundation’s county investigation, presented an ambitious plan that starts with a look at shooter Nikolas Cruz’s life and interactions before the shootings. The foundation will review school safety and emergency preparedness policies, how police officers, rescue crews and medical personnel performed during the incident, how elected officials reacted and how well social service agencies succeeded in providing support to those traumatized by the massacre. It has also been asked to evaluate how the county’s aging public safety radio system performed and what improvements are needed in a new system expected to be in operation by the end of 2019.

“I think the Police Foundation laid out a solid plan,” said Lois Wexler, a former county commissioner and school board member who will serve as the task force’s chairwoman. Kathleen Cannon, head of the United Way of Broward County, was elected vice chairwoman. The 14-member task force includes educators, a Sheriff’s Office administrator, local government officials, mental health providers and nonprofit agency and healthcare representatives.

The foundation will synthesize the reports being done by the different agencies and present its findings to the task force for its input. The Police Foundation will conduct its own interviews of first responders, survivors, witnesses and government officials, as well as school district employees and others from the community, Straub said. The interviews are confidential.