In appeal to Senate magistrate, Scott Israel says Parkland shooting wasn’t ‘preventable’

The mass shooting in Parkland, carried out by a troubled teenager no stranger to school administrators or law enforcement, was undoubtedly a tragedy.

But it was not a “preventable tragedy,” according to suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

Ousted from his position as Broward’s top cop by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in January, Israel made his case Friday to the Special Master overseeing his appeal before the Florida Senate. In a written appeal to Special Master Dudley Goodlette, Israel laments the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting that killed 17 students and faculty and injured another 17, but maintains his position that neither he nor the Broward Sheriff’s Office was directly responsible for the shooting.

Along with the Parkland shooting, DeSantis also referenced the Jan 6, 2017 shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in which five people were killed.

DeSantis, who cited neglect of duty and incompetence in his executive order suspending Israel, saw his decision upheld by the Florida Supreme Court in April.

“Neither Sheriff Israel nor the BSO were responsible for the mass shooting, nor was Sheriff Israel guilty of neglect of duty and incompetence in connection with that tragedy,” Israel writes. “Sheriff Israel takes full responsibility for the response of the BSO to that senseless shooting, and implemented many post-event improvements and systems in response thereto during his time as Sheriff.”

With the 2019 Legislative session concluding Friday, Goodlette said a final hearing will take place in late June, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Israel, 62, was elected sheriff in 2012 and re-elected to a four-year term in 2016. Regardless of the outcome of his appeal, he said he plans to run for sheriff in 2020.

Following his suspension, just days after DeSantis took office, Israel characterized his ouster as a “political ruse designed to satisfy partisan political promises” made on the campaign trail, according to Israel’s letter to Goodlette.

The claims DeSantis made in his executive order were “patently false, grossly inflammatory, politically charged, and fail to establish grounds warranting removal of Sheriff Israel from office for neglect of duty or incompetence,” Israel wrote. He calls his suspension constitutional overreach and purely political.

At the time of the shooting, Israel states, BSO was certified by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, “representing the gold standard” in public safety.

He also contends that BSO instituted active-shooter training for its deputies as early as 2013, and that BSO conducted such training as recently as 2016. Specialty units received monthly training, including classes on weapons training and “tabletop applications for active shooter scenarios.”

A state panel investigating the massacre, while never advocating for the suspension of Israel, pointed to security breakdowns, radio failures and a lack of training on the part of BSO deputies, some of whom took cover outside the high school during the shooting while officers with Coral Springs police rushed by them. The 458-page report the committee released said improvements could have possibly saved lives.

One key finding in the report was the modification of a single word in BSO’s active-shooter training, stipulating that deputies “may” — not “must,” as it previously stated — enter an active-shooter situation to preserve life.

“This policy was consistent with national standards, had not been criticized previously by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and did not materially differ from policies utilized by other Florida law enforcement agencies,” Israel writes. “The BSO active shooter policy was not and had never been considered a limitation on law enforcement entry into an active shooting or hostage situation.”

A post-event report issued after the airport shooting “found no negligence, incompetence, or neglect of duty on the part of Sheriff Israel or the BSO,” Israel wrote.

But it did criticize Broward County’s regional emergency communications system, which was similarly overwhelmed during the Parkland shooting. Israel writes that the county controls and operates the radio system, and that BSO had “for years” leaned on Broward to enhance its system.

The MSD committee did not explicitly state it had found incompetence or neglect of duty on the part of Israel, he writes. DeSantis’ executive order “failed to mention that neither document found any neglect of duty or incompetence on the part of Sheriff Israel,” he added.

He pointed to a statement by the committee chair, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, in which Gualtieri said he would not recommend suspension for Israel.

“The February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is indeed a tragedy,” Israel wrote. “But it was not a preventable tragedy given the intention of a mass murderer to commit acts of terrorism on the suburban high school campus.”

In responding to the claims made by DeSantis in his executive order, such as that the mass shootings were “directly attributable” to Israel, the suspended sheriff said the governor lacked evidence to support such a finding. He also took issue with DeSantis holding him responsible for the missteps of particular deputies, like former BSO deputy and MSD school resource officer Scott Peterson, who was pushed out of his position after failing to enter the affected building during the shooting.

“In essence, Sheriff Israel’s suspension is based on the Governor’s opinion that, because these two terror incidents occurred in Broward County while Sheriff Israel was in office, he must have failed in some way to prevent the crimes from taking place,” Israel wrote. “That is not and cannot be a basis for suspension or removal from office.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 10:50 PM.