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That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar
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Former Broward County sheriff's deputy and Parkland High school resources officer Scot Peterson, who resigned not long after the shooting that left 17 dead, had steadfastly maintained he'd heard shots OUTSIDE the school and bravely stepped out into danger to confront the gunman. Unfortunately for him, tapes of internal raido dispatches prove he lied. He actually reported hearing shots INSIDE the building and also advised other law enforcement officers to stay away. Say what???

"Roundly vilified for not entering a Parkland high school during a mass shooting, Broward Deputy Scot Peterson insisted publicly that he believed that gunfire was happening outside on campus -- not inside the building.


But internal radio dispatches released by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Thursday show Peterson immediately fixated on Building 12 and even radioed that gunfire was happening "inside.

And, just as school shooter Nikolas Cruz was fleeing the building after killing 17 people, Peterson warned his fellow officers to stay away -- even as wounded students and staff lay inside.

"Do not approach the 12 or 1300 building, stay at least 500 feet away," a panicked Peterson shouted as people screamed in the background.

The second-by-second timeline and audio recording of police radio chatter sheds new light on the chaotic and much scrutinized law enforcement response to the bloodshed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High...

They also appear to show that other deputies may have refrained from rushing into the school at the direction of Peterson and a Parkland captain. The response by the agency has been the subject of national scrutiny, and is currently under review by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement."


Guess we know why the Broward Sheriff's Office didn't want those tapes released, huh?

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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I'd say he wasn't prepared to be at war that day and was probably thinking a lot of things, none of them right.

I won't berate the guy, because I have no idea what I would do in a situation of that magnitutde. I work in a trauma center (In the blood bank) and often wonder how the hospitals handle such mass casualty situations. The blood bank must be chaos, I can't even imagine what it would be like in the field.

The guy royally scrrewed up, burt can any of us say we can do better? Not until we've been there we can't. We can hope we would, but in reality, we just don't know.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [Nova] [ In reply to ]
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If you're collecting a paycheck for protecting children, you damn well better try to do at least that.

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [sphere] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not sure of all the details, but I know he screwed up. I guess if your job is to protect kids, you should be ready for war.

Was he an armed security guard? Officer assigned to the school?

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [Nova] [ In reply to ]
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Nova wrote:
I'm not sure of all the details, but I know he screwed up. I guess if your job is to protect kids, you should be ready for war.

Was he an armed security guard? Officer assigned to the school?

From the very first sentence of the OP: "Former Broward County sheriff's deputy and Parkland High school resources officer Scot Peterson,"

"Du or Du not-there is no Tri" - Yoda
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [timberwolf] [ In reply to ]
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timberwolf wrote:
Nova wrote:
I'm not sure of all the details, but I know he screwed up. I guess if your job is to protect kids, you should be ready for war.

Was he an armed security guard? Officer assigned to the school?


From the very first sentence of the OP: "Former Broward County sheriff's deputy and Parkland High school resources officer Scot Peterson,"

Was he acting as a sheriff's deputy when he was on the school grounds? What the hell is a "resources officer"? Armed?

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [Nova] [ In reply to ]
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Nova wrote:
Was he acting as a sheriff's deputy when he was on the school grounds? What the hell is a "resources officer"? Armed?

From Wikipedia: "
School resource officers (SROs) are defined by the United States Department of Justice as sworn law enforcement officers who are responsible for providing security and crime prevention services in schools[1]. This article is primarily about SROs in the United States, though there are also SROs in Canada.

The United States Department of Justice defines SROs as “sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools”.[2] SROs are typically employed by a local police or sheriff's agency and work closely with administrators in an effort to create a safer environment for both students and staff. The responsibilities of SROs are similar to regular police officers in that they have the ability to make arrests, respond to calls for service, and document incidents. School resource officers typically have additional duties, including mentoring and conducting presentations on youth-related issues. SROs are not synonymous with school based law enforcement (SBLE) officers - which are typically employed by a school districts’ law enforcement agency, rather than local or city law enforcement - though they are often misused interchangeably.[3]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/...ool_resource_officer

"Du or Du not-there is no Tri" - Yoda
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [timberwolf] [ In reply to ]
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Damn... The more you know.

No pass, he should have been drille dto death on what to do and how to react. To bad so many lives lost.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, not looking good for him. Looks like he wasn't up for the job and people died.

Not familiar at all with how these guys are chosen. Are they the quality of regular full blown deputies or are they closer to mall cop?

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Post deleted by windschatten [ In reply to ]
Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [windschatten] [ In reply to ]
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windschatten wrote:
big kahuna wrote:
Former Broward County sheriff's deputy


So this guy was not SWAT, and neither was he active and trained.

Physically and mentally already retired.

Totally human.

Then he also wasn't trained to be directing his fellow LEO's to stay away from the scene, he is, putting it bluntly, incompetent.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [j p o] [ In reply to ]
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j p o wrote:
Yeah, not looking good for him. Looks like he wasn't up for the job and people died.

Not familiar at all with how these guys are chosen. Are they the quality of regular full blown deputies or are they closer to mall cop?

I'm assuming he and the rest of sworn law enforcement in Florida have to meet department as well as state certification requirements and whatnot. That said, I'm fully aware that none of us knows how we'd perform when it's time to get in the fight, which is what he should have done.

That's where I'm critical of his performance, including his radio directives to other law enforcement officers arriving on scene. It boggles my mind that we had police and sheriff's deputies who never even came close to getting into the fight, with a BSO scene commander actually directing everyone to simply set up a perimeter and not directing anyone to, again... get in the fight. Unbelievable.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [windschatten] [ In reply to ]
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Ihe s former now because he segued as soon the day after it happened. He was a full time deputy at the time of the incident. This happens pretty close to me and all our schools have resource offices.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Wow, that's bad. In a way I feel for the guy, he clearly wasn't trained right or however the training was meant to weed out those who wouldn't respond properly, it didn't weed him out. He'll have to live with the guilt the rest of his life.

That said, lives were lost because of his non-response so I can't feel TOO bad. And ultimately I put this on the sheriffs department and their training protocols. They should have psych profiles and live fire drills and simulated exercises to make sure someone who won't respond appropriately is not assigned to protect a school, protect children.

All of this, to me, gets back to sheriff Israel. That man should've been out of a job already but after this has emerged I'd once again question his competence if his protocols can't weed out someone who'd react in this way.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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I've done a fair bit of active shooter training. I'm not a SWAT guy or anything but I have far above average tactical sense and shooting ability. Nobody wants to go into an AR vs Pistol fight like this guy was facing but it's his job. He was certainly outgunned but he did have several things in his favor:

  • He's better trained than the kid
  • He has the element of surprise as he pretty much knew where the kid was but the kid wouldn't know where he was
  • He probably knew the layout of the school better, even though the kid was a former student

He didn't need to go running in there Leroy Jenkins style and add to the casualty list but there are ways to do it tactically and with purpose. You gotta go in. Kids are dying. If you do nothing more than hide around a corner and draw the shooter's attention... that's a big win at that moment. But you gotta go in.


Telling others not to go in is inexplicable. Especially when you now have the numbers.





Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [Brownie28] [ In reply to ]
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And ultimately I put this on the sheriffs department and their training protocols. They should have psych profiles and live fire drills and simulated exercises to make sure someone who won't respond appropriately is not assigned to protect a school, protect children.

To a certain extent, this boils down to what they are hiring SROs to do. This particular guy has been an SRO for decades. I guarantee, when he was hired and originally trained, school shootings were not on the radar for the program. SROs are typically on campus to deal with drugs, minor fights, general discipline type of stuff, as well as police/community outreach. They have not traditionally been there as a defense against tactical shooter situations.

It may be that police and sheriffs departments need to reevaluate the responsibilities and expectations for these officers. If they are expected to go into a building to engage an active shooter, then proper screening and training need to accompany that expectation. If they're not expected to do that, then the response to a shooter needs to be handled by other officers, and the SRO's job is probably to assist in evacuation and setting up an initial perimeter to prevent anyone from moving into the danger area before the response team arrives.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [Brownie28] [ In reply to ]
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Brownie28 wrote:
Wow, that's bad. In a way I feel for the guy, he clearly wasn't trained right or however the training was meant to weed out those who wouldn't respond properly, it didn't weed him out. He'll have to live with the guilt the rest of his life.

That said, lives were lost because of his non-response so I can't feel TOO bad. And ultimately I put this on the sheriffs department and their training protocols. They should have psych profiles and live fire drills and simulated exercises to make sure someone who won't respond appropriately is not assigned to protect a school, protect children.

All of this, to me, gets back to sheriff Israel. That man should've been out of a job already but after this has emerged I'd once again question his competence if his protocols can't weed out someone who'd react in this way.

According to Sheriff Israel, in his interview with Jake Tapper, he's "done amazing leadership" since taking over as the Broward County Sheriff. He keeps using that word "leadership." I do not think it means what he thinks it means.

I feel worst of all for the victims. I don't know how many would have lived had that SRO gone in and done his duty, as he was sworn to do (and maybe none would have been saved... and we'll never know that now), but it's clear -- from all evidence so far -- that he didn't come anywhere close to doing what he was supposed to do, which is (as GMAN says) "get in there."

Fear is a normal thing, and there's no shame in being afraid as you engage the bad guy (or "the enemy," which is the term we (mostly) used in the military when coming up on these situations). But having courage means you can overcome your fear and do the right thing. Which in this case, was to engage the shooter and try to save lives. It's trite, and it's easy enough to say it here in a safe place, where none of us are being shot at (verbally, though...), but if you're not shooting, you should be moving (and reloading and scanning), and if you're not shooting and moving you should be communicating. I don't know that this deputy met any single one of those metrics properly.

Lastly, I thank G-d I wasn't in the shoes of those officers and deputies that day. Law enforcement has an almost unbearable burden and I tip my hat every day to them for taking it up and dealing with it.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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The most accurate statement you made is that you don’t know how many would have lived had he gone in. Do we know that ANY of them would have lived? How long would it take to react, establish the shooters position then figure out a plan of counterattack? 30 seconds? Don’t know. How many rounds from that rifle could have gone off in that time? Not unreasonable to assume most fatalities occurred in the first few seconds as everyone was caught by surprise and before they could try and hide.

It’s one thing to comment on the lack of reaction. Another to imply a heap more lives (if any) were lost as a direct consequence. Sadly you’ll never know.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [mv2005] [ In reply to ]
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mv2005 wrote:
The most accurate statement you made is that you don’t know how many would have lived had he gone in. Do we know that ANY of them would have lived? How long would it take to react, establish the shooters position then figure out a plan of counterattack? 30 seconds? Don’t know. How many rounds from that rifle could have gone off in that time? Not unreasonable to assume most fatalities occurred in the first few seconds as everyone was caught by surprise and before they could try and hide.

It’s one thing to comment on the lack of reaction. Another to imply a heap more lives (if any) were lost as a direct consequence. Sadly you’ll never know.

I think I pointed out that we'll never know if ANY action by the deputy would have mattered. But I think it's also fair to point out that the inconsistencies in his public statements versus what we now know -- from the dispatch tapes the Broward Sheriff's Office didn't want released -- don't comport well with what we all would hope a sworn law enforcement officer (LEO) would do in such a situation, which is get into the fight ASAP and engage the shooter. This is standard doctrine on the part of almost all police departments since the '99 Columbine shooting, where police and police tactical units were ordered to hold back and "secure the perimeter."

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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"Do not approach the 12 or 1300 building, stay at least 500 feet away," a panicked Peterson shouted as people screamed in the background. //

I thought I heard that either this statement or one like it was directed at EMS. If that were the case, it would have been totally the right call. EMS are not supposed to charge into an active situation, that is standard protocol just about everywhere, except Syria and the blue hats of course...


Just wondering if you left out some of the transcript and thus changed the entire context. I dont really know. And of course when this guy took this job it was to be a presence at the school for minor disturbances. He obviously got comfortable in that role as a de facto security guard. When the shit hit the fan decades later he panicked and did not do the heroic thing. Very few people are heroes in these situations, it would have been nice if he was one of those few.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [monty] [ In reply to ]
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monty wrote:
"Do not approach the 12 or 1300 building, stay at least 500 feet away," a panicked Peterson shouted as people screamed in the background. //

I thought I heard that either this statement or one like it was directed at EMS. If that were the case, it would have been totally the right call. EMS are not supposed to charge into an active situation, that is standard protocol just about everywhere, except Syria and the blue hats of course...


Just wondering if you left out some of the transcript and thus changed the entire context. I dont really know. And of course when this guy took this job it was to be a presence at the school for minor disturbances. He obviously got comfortable in that role as a de facto security guard. When the shit hit the fan decades later he panicked and did not do the heroic thing. Very few people are heroes in these situations, it would have been nice if he was one of those few.


The entire story is available at the link, which is in my OP. It's from the Miami Herald, I believe. I read it last night, and went through the materials available. I stand by my original characterization.

I also concede that none of us knows how we would react, of course. Having said that, we have a right to expect that the people who claim they are going to protect us, actually do that and, like I've said before; get into the fight.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
Last edited by: big kahuna: Mar 10, 18 10:17
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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So many forum heroes with no issues throwing people under a bus when in all likelihood you’d be pissing your pants behind a car perhaps blindly pointing a handgun over the hood firing randomly. As someone else pointed out when he started, this sort of thing was likely not on the radar. Was he adequately trained? If not direct your vitriol that way.

Teachers and school security SHOULD have a right not to have to deal with guns in the hands of kids. It’s pretty instinctive to not want to die.

You reap what you sow, stop singling out people. Honestly, what a fucked up society you’ve all accepted as status quo.
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [spudone] [ In reply to ]
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spudone wrote:
The GMAN wrote:
I've done a fair bit of active shooter training. I'm not a SWAT guy or anything but I have far above average tactical sense and shooting ability. Nobody wants to go into an AR vs Pistol fight like this guy was facing but it's his job. He was certainly outgunned but he did have several things in his favor:

  • He's better trained than the kid
  • He has the element of surprise as he pretty much knew where the kid was but the kid wouldn't know where he was
  • He probably knew the layout of the school better, even though the kid was a former student

He didn't need to go running in there Leroy Jenkins style and add to the casualty list but there are ways to do it tactically and with purpose. You gotta go in. Kids are dying. If you do nothing more than hide around a corner and draw the shooter's attention... that's a big win at that moment. But you gotta go in.


Telling others not to go in is inexplicable. Especially when you now have the numbers.


I agree he should have tried to do something. But how did he know it was just one kid? Columbine was a pair; a single officer going in could've been surprised by the other shooter. It's easy to armchair quarterback after the fact, knowing exactly who was involved.

They did have intel, and relatively quickly from what I recall, that it was a single shooter. Did this SRO know that at the time? I don't know the timeline on that. Columbine was the only active school shooting that involved more than one shooter inside the school (that I can recall). I think two kids were involved in the Jonesboro, AR shooting, but they were shooting from outside the school. So one could play the odds it was a single shooter but I can understand the concern. Still need to go in.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: That Broward Sheriff's Deputy is a Coward AND a Liar [mv2005] [ In reply to ]
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mv2005 wrote:
So many forum heroes with no issues throwing people under a bus when in all likelihood you’d be pissing your pants behind a car perhaps blindly pointing a handgun over the hood firing randomly. As someone else pointed out when he started, this sort of thing was likely not on the radar. Was he adequately trained? If not direct your vitriol that way.

Teachers and school security SHOULD have a right not to have to deal with guns in the hands of kids. It’s pretty instinctive to not want to die.

You reap what you sow, stop singling out people. Honestly, what a fucked up society you’ve all accepted as status quo.

I had a long military career and, based on past experience and some actual trigger time, I think I would have done what I think this deputy -- who's a sworn LEO -- should have done, which is get in the fight. Fear is a natural thing. But you overcome that fear through action and doing what you know is right. Leaving even that aside, as I said, I think it's fair to criticize his performance in the carrying out of his duties because, from all appearances it looks like he failed badly when it came to his duty.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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