Parkland Cop Charged

The Coffee Shop
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Again from post #12:

Florida Statute 827.10 says “A caregiver who deserts a child under circumstances in which the caregiver knew or should have known that the desertion exposes the child to unreasonable risk of harm commits a felony of the third degree.”

Florida Statute 39.01(10) says “Caregiver” means the parent, legal custodian, permanent guardian, adult household member, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare as defined in subsection (54)."

And (54) says “Other person responsible for a child’s welfare” includes the child’s legal guardian or foster parent; an employee of any school, public or private child day care center, residential home, institution, facility, or agency; a law enforcement officer employed in any facility, service, or program for children that is operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice; or any other person legally responsible for the child’s welfare in a residential setting; and includes an adult sitter or relative entrusted with a child’s care."

So you are saying that he had a legal responsibility to be personally responsible for the wellbeing of 3206 children? If so, why is it not 3206 counts, since his actions were identical for every student at that school?

Also, separate from my other questions, what is Florida’s definition of “child”? That may or may not affect how applicable those laws are…

I don’t know if they are basing the charges on the above or not. It appears to apply. Maybe not.

To your point, it’s not possible for one person to be personally responsible for each and every kid in the school. He is being charged for seven counts of felony neglect of a child, three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury. Not sure where the counts come from but I believe he should be held accountable for his actions. As to the “child” question, I assume it may refer to minors.

He signed up for this. He signed up to put himself in harm’s way to protect students. He was trained extensively to do so and he chose to do the opposite. He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite.

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He signed up for this. He signed up to put himself in harm’s way to protect students. He was trained extensively to do so and he chose to do the opposite. He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite. .

“He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite.”

Exactly wrong. He did NOT do the opposite; he did nothing*.

If you are claiming his role was to reduce or remove the threat, then the opposite would to create or increase the threat. He didn’t create it (the shooter did) nor escalate it.

  • More correctly, he did take actions like calling in the situation, but didn’t active move to engage the threat.
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While I don’t believe he did his job valiantly or properly that day but since when is cowardice a crime, even for a cop? The legal and judicial jiu-jitsu on this one is going to be interesting.

You gotta go in and do what you can to stop the shooting as a LEO but every person is going to respond differently to the stress and fear. Dude got scared and froze. It sucks but it happened. I can fault him for not doing his job well but I can’t fault him for being human. I just don’t see how this rises to the level of criminality beyond the false statement charge. I just think this got politicized too much for my comfort level.

I’m not condoning his actions. He sucked at his job that day.

Yeah but unfortunately him sucking at his job cost a lot of people their lives. It’s not really about what he did or didn’t do, it’s about the terrible outcome that his inaction played a part in.

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…

He signed up for this. He signed up to put himself in harm’s way to protect students. He was trained extensively to do so and he chose to do the opposite. He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite.

I have mixed feelings about the criminal charges. Yes, the guy is a coward and abrogated his duty to the kids. But I think he’s being scapegoated.

Let’s be realistic. You say he was trained extensively, and on paper I’m sure that’s true. But I look at that guy and I see a fat old man who wanted an easy job to coast towards retirement on. Why was he hired to protect kids?

Taking on active shooters is a young man’s game. Seriously: if we want to put armed guards in the schools they need to be fit, fast, and adept. Not some overweight middle-aged semi-retired cop who has had some bullshit training.

If we are to be serious about school shootings we shouldn’t be placing our faith in guys like this in the first place.

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But I look at that guy and I see a fat old man who wanted an easy job to coast towards retirement on. Why was he hired to protect kids?

Because despite the publicity given to any school shooting, schools are still generally low threat environments. School liaison officers aren’t really there, by and large, for school shooters.

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He signed up for this. He signed up to put himself in harm’s way to protect students. He was trained extensively to do so and he chose to do the opposite. He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite. .

“He didn’t just do nothing, he did the opposite.”

Exactly wrong. He did NOT do the opposite; he did nothing*.

If you are claiming his role was to reduce or remove the threat, then the opposite would to create or increase the threat. He didn’t create it (the shooter did) nor escalate it.

  • More correctly, he did take actions like calling in the situation, but didn’t active move to engage the threat.

That’s how you see it. I see it this way. His job was to go TO the threat. He ran FROM the threat. If a threat lasts 20 minutes without intervention, but with intervention would have lasted 10 minutes then the officer’s action (inaction) led to the increase of the threat. The x factor here is that we don’t know for certain that his intervention would have solved/decreased the threat. We will see via trial. Willing to bet that the prosecution will lay the argument that his inaction led to deaths. I believe it did.

" More correctly, he did take actions like calling in the situation, but didn’t active move to engage the threat."*

Did you not read the full account?

“At 2:28 p.m. — seven minutes after the gunman entered the building — Mr. Peterson said over the radio: “Broward, do not approach the 12 or 1300 buildings. Stay at least 500 feet away at this point.””

He took action huh?

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But I think he’s being scapegoated.

Maybe he is. He still needs to be held accountable.

But I look at that guy and I see a fat old man who wanted an easy job to coast towards retirement on. Why was he hired to protect kids?

Maybe this will lead to better/more selective hiring process for these roles.

Taking on active shooters is a young man’s game. Seriously: if we want to put armed guards in the schools they need to be fit, fast, and adept. Not some overweight middle-aged semi-retired cop who has had some bullshit training

Matter of perspective.
Young cop could say “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me, wife, young kids, career, etc…no way i’m going in to get shot”
Old cop could say “I’ve lived my life, I’ve got to protect these kids so they can live theirs…i’m going in”

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But I think he’s being scapegoated.
Maybe he is. He still needs to be held accountable.

I agree he needs to be held accountable. However I really don’t think he meets the definition of a caregiver that the statute was intended for. Hence my opinion that he’s a scapegoat.

But I look at that guy and I see a fat old man who wanted an easy job to coast towards retirement on. Why was he hired to protect kids?
Maybe this will lead to better/more selective hiring process for these roles.
Let’s hope so. I personally would far prefer qualified police in the schools rather than the Florida solution of arming teachers (which I think is a very bad idea).

Taking on active shooters is a young man’s game. Seriously: if we want to put armed guards in the schools they need to be fit, fast, and adept. Not some overweight middle-aged semi-retired cop who has had some bullshit training
Matter of perspective.
Young cop could say “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me, wife, young kids, career, etc…no way i’m going in to get shot”
Old cop could say “I’ve lived my life, I’ve got to protect these kids so they can live theirs…i’m going in”

I’m sure there are a few young and old cops who would do as you say. But my gut feel is that putting old fat deputies on a glide path to retirement and expecting them to do well against young lunatic shooters is not a successful strategy.

49

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1512029927067037706?s=21&t=BL3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA
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Credit for honesty
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Credit for honesty

Or creativity
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52

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

53

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

You need to spend more time in State court

54

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

You need to spend more time in State court

Fair point. I’ve been in a state courtroom like 3x.

55

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

Yep. She’s stunning. Smart, educated and gorgeous.

56

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

Someone had to say it.

57

On a related note, jury selection is underway and it seems Florida gonna Florida…

https://twitter.com/...3n326PkOn1iSnypsNkwA

I’ve been in a lot of courtrooms and seen a lot of judges in my career. None look like her. Sorry for the frat boy post. :slight_smile:

https://youtu.be/YJUlRSa70mM