Deputy assigned to Florida school 'never went in' during shooting, sheriff says

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Further evidence that you cannot expect govt to protect you.

I feel every person of any worth has a duty to help and protect others. Not everyone feels that way. I have seen police officers drive right on past disabled motorists. I have read on other forums (including this one) where the gun owner was adamant "I protect me and mine and no one else."

The less one depends on others for whatever, the happier and safer they will be.
 
I was 10 miles from Columbine and watched it unfold on live TV. I watched as sheriff deputies and police crouched outside waiting for orders to move, while their commanders fidgeted. The big take-away at that time was that entering the building and engaging an active shooter immediately would likely save many lives. I thought that had become SOP after the investigation of that wrapped up.

Not sure what this guy's issue was, and the sheriff says he's probably never going to release the video. Maybe his smoke break just wasn't up yet and he needed his "me time"? Or maybe he's just a sniveling coward. We will likely never know.
 
I recall the Columbine "wait for SWAT" reaction. I thought it was stupid then and I think it's stupid now. But it shows, you can't depend on govt.

There was a thread started on this forum about "guy with gun goes into a store." I had to stop reading it because most of the replies seemed to be written for this deputy's approval. I guess some guys can walk away and still look themselves in the mirror....apparently some deputies too.
 
In The Ten Ring said:
I recall the Columbine "wait for SWAT" reaction. I thought it was stupid then and I think it's stupid now. But it shows, you can't depend on govt.

There was a thread started on this forum about "guy with gun goes into a store." I had to stop reading it because most of the replies seemed to be written for this deputy's approval. I guess some guys can walk away and still look themselves in the mirror....apparently some deputies too.
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There is a huge difference between a avg citizen to desire going home to his or her family vs bringing a handgun to a rifle fight but if you put on the uniform and take a pay check you have to be willing to go in. If you can't you have no business wearing the uniform.

What makes it even worse is this coward waiting outside for 4 minutes while people died and he is so overcome with grief he is going to retire and collect is pension. -CENSORED--CENSORED--CENSORED-
 
Last I heard, a lot of cops have families too. Maybe Mr. Newly Retired told himself the same thing.

I maintain, it comes down to what kind of person you happen to be. Excuses are excuses when it comes to not helping someone you could have.
 
The person who should resign is Sherriff Scott Israel.

Remember Robert E. Lee's words at the end of Pickett's Charge/Gettysburg, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."

This Broward Sherriff is blaming every failure of his department on his subordinates.

A loan school deputy who was most likely, "trained to wait for backup."

Deputies who were called to the shooter's home 30+ times and failed to arrest or at least baker act.

This Broward sheriff's office is a wreck - the leader should resign immediately.
 
Not only the above. We know that the shooter was ultimately arrested not by the Broward County Sheriff's Office but by the Coral Springs PD. From what I've been reading, although Sheriff Israel has been claiming that despite his deputy's failure to do his job and engage the shooter ASAP, the first responders "saved lives" -- those first responders also don't seem to have been his deputies. Reading between the lines, it looks like the first officers who actually entered the school were Coral Springs PD.
 
Multiple failures in multiple areas, all the little things that added up to a huge murderous event.
One thing to keep in mind, and I have heard this in more than one forum, the "I hear guys here say they would evacuate" and "my gun is to protect me and mine", yes, true, for a civilian CCW'ing legally, that is very true. No civilian is obligated to respond with armed force, and unless I miss my guess, that area is a no gun zone, meaning not one civilian firearms owner would have been lawfully on that campus armed.
However, the SRO is/was a sworn law enforcement officer, on campus to stop events just like this, and according to the training I'm told was given to many agencies since Columbine, was supposed to engage the murderer at first opportunity. Since the officer was able to retire as soon as he was suspended, I can possibly assume that it was/is policy to assign staff to RSO who are on their last years as a cushy "slide out the door" job. I would assume that the failure of this officer to follow his basic responsibilities might lead other agencies to implement a different policy, perhaps rotating the assignment among more engaged officers.
In the meantime, the newly retired officer should probably move, someplace far away, because he will never live quietly in that town/area again for what he failed to do. I have no idea how many kids were killed while he stood outside.
 
A loan school deputy who was most likely, "trained to wait for backup."
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It is very unlikely he was trained to wait outside. For a short period of time after Columbine responding in diamond formation as soon as four armed personnel arrived was used in training. Interestingly enough, this was the one time I have ever heard it suggested by any LEO that an armed civilian could be utilized/encouraged to engage. From my memory that was thrown out about 2005 or maybe a little sooner and first person on scene should respond immediately. That change in tactics was a big part of the reason given for police in my state to transition from shotguns to ARs. I am quite certain there has been training for more than a decade to that effect. If they did not receive any updates in that training over that period of time that is quite abnormal. The officers in my area spend a considerably disproportionate amount of time training for school shooting scenarios given their likelihood.

It is easy to say one should charge into a burning building and save the orphans. Most people will not do so when the time comes. To some extent you simply have to be stupid. The odds are not well slanted in his favor. He is already eligible for retirement, so he is likely well into his fifties or older. This was probably seen as an easy post with few dangers or demands. I can't pretend to be that surprised.
 
So first we hear that Broward County Sheriff's Deputies had responded to 39 calls to the shooter's home but never made an arrest or detained anyone for mental health evaluation and now we find that the Deputy at the school never went in? Could it be that perhaps Sheriff Israel's calls for gun control are so shrill on an attempt to take the focus off the incompetence of the department he heads?
 
In The Ten Ring said:
I maintain, it comes down to what kind of person you happen to be. Excuses are excuses when it comes to not helping someone you could have.
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Not helping someone you "could" have could apply to a private citizen and, despite the best of intentions, not all private citizens are heroes. This was not a private citizen -- this was a sworn, uniformed police officer whose JOB it was to respond to the shooter. This is not a case of failing to help someone he "could" have helped, this was a failure to help people he "should" have helped.

I saw a link to an LEO forum on which a member posted that he knew someone in the Coral Springs PD and reached out to him. The Coral Springs PD were the first to arrive (other than the worthless SRO), not Broward County Sheriff's Office. The guy said that when the Coral Springs officers entered the building, they ran right past the SRO and he remained in the parking lot.

He must have received death threats, because Fox News is now reporting that the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has posted guards at his home.
 
Older SRO, unsure of his ability to take on a rifle shooter with his handgun, maybe one of those officers who only fire their weapon at annual qualifications, not a "gun person", scared, a born follower, not a leader, just plain froze up.

We're not all Dirty Harrys'.

Take your pick.

End of day, 17 people dead and he will carry that thought with him to his grave.
 
And now the police are guarding his residence because of threats. Ironic? http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/2...who-never-went-in-during-shooting-report.html

Several folks have mentioned Columbine. Columbine was the catalyst that change SOP regarding school shooters across the country and eventually general active shooter situations. The officers that responded to Columbine did follow the protocol of the period, to first surround and contain, assess, and then figure out what to do. It was the old way of thinking, as if it was a hostage situation. Law enforcement did learn from Columbine and significant changes were made. Scott Peterson apparently wasn't going to change.
 
Commentary to news stories has become:
"See? Even the police are afraid of those evil black rifles!"
"Poor officer was out-gunned! We couldn't possibly expect him to have gone after the shooter!"

To me this just emphasizes that one cannot rely on law enforcement for protection. Great if they're there and engaged, just don't count on it. They are not required to risk their lives for you.
 
If the police won't protect us I guess we'll have to arm ourselves. So much human fail yet they want to blame an inert object for all this.
 
I don’t blame the cop. He’s being held as a scapegoat.

The cop wasn’t wrong morally to set up a defensive situation and wait. I’m sure this cop had a family, too

Cops aren’t paid to die, and a rifle verus handgun situation is a bad uneven situation, as evidenced by the cop that was killed on video by Micah Johnson. I don’t have to explain to this group why in a pistol versus magazined rifle fight, the rifle will have a huge advantage.

Anyone who thinks the cop should have charged in with his handgun only needs to watch this video. https://youtu.be/murLU0us4eY

Also, from a legal perspective, the cop has no legal obligation to intervene, and this is case law that has been confirmed multiple times and confirmed again in 2005 in the SC case Castle Rock v Gonzales.

It’s a highly publicized and widely held myth that cops have to pull you from a burning car or save you in a shootout. The inaction might result in heavy political pressure afterwards, but that’s a different perspective.

I don’t fault the cop at all. It’s not his obligation to die.
 
So police are perfectly willing to kill but not be killed in the line of duty...got it.

By the way the sheriff of the county disagreed with you...
 
I don’t fault the cop at all. It’s not his obligation to die.
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While I don't totally disagree with you maybe we need to reevaluate the type of officers we place in school and why they are there. Originally SROs were primarily placed to deal with student drug use, assist with mentoring and offer very basic security. However, now it seems prudent to changed that job description.
 
BarryLee wrote: While I don't totally disagree with you maybe we need to reevaluate the type of officers we place in school and why they are there. Originally SROs were primarily placed to deal with student drug use, assist with mentoring and offer very basic security. However, now it seems prudent to changed that job description.
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With respect, the job description changed a long time ago. April 20, 1999 to be precise.
 
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