From NBC News:
Former Parkland security officer Scot Peterson charged with neglect for not entering school
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a news release that Peterson’s inaction cost people their lives.
A former Parkland, Florida, school safety officer who failed to confront the gunman when 17 people were fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, was arrested Tuesday on multiple charges, including child neglect and perjury.
Scot Peterson, who worked as a security guard at the school, was charged with seven counts of neglect of a child and three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.
The charges carry a maximum potential sentence of 96 and a half years in state prison, the Broward State Attorney’s Office said.
That sounds great, except I don’t see how any of those charges are going to stick.
He was taken into custody in Broward County after a 15-month investigation that showed he “refused to investigate the source of the gunshots, retreated during the active shooting while victims were being shot and directed other law enforcement who arrived on scene to remain 500 feet away from the building,” the state law enforcement department said.
Department Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a news release that Peterson “did absolutely nothing” to stop the shooting, and that cost people their lives.
“There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives,” Swearingen said.
I agree, there is no excuse for the chicken shit Scot Peterson to have hidden behind a tree with piss running down his leg, but he did it and kids died.
The State Attorney’s Office said the law enforcement department interviewed more than 180 witnesses as well as reviewed video surveillance during the investigation.
“All the facts related to Mr. Peterson’s failure to act during the MSD massacre clearly warranted both termination of employment and criminal charges. It’s never too late for accountability and justice,” Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony added.
Yeah, but…
Jeff Bell, president of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, told NBC News on Tuesday that the union has concerns with the child neglect charges due to the caveat that someone must be a caretaker.
“Does that mean now that any time an officer is assigned a detail that involves children around the country, are they now caretakers?” Bell asked. “I worry about future officers, not just Scot Peterson, being charged by overzealous prosecutors with child neglect when we’re not caretakers.”
And there it is.
Unless Warren v. District of Columbia and Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales were overturned while I was taking a nap, the case against the chicken shit Scot Peterson might very well be dropped.
Warren v. DC said that police do not have a specific duty to protect citizens based on the public duty doctrine.
It seems like the Broward State attorney is making the claim that as a School Resource Officer, he did have a specific duty to the children.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association clearly does not want that responsibility.
So unless everybody is ready to fight this all the way up to the Supreme Court and try to overturn Castle Rock and maybe even DeShaney v. Winnebago County, the case against the chicken shit Scot Peterson is going to be dismissed on the first day of trial, if it even gets that far.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime died in the Parkland shooting, told Peterson to “rot in hell” on Twitter Tuesday.
“You could have saved some of the 17.,” Guttenberg said. “You could have saved my daughter. You did not and then you lied about it and you deserve the misery coming your way.”
This may be the only thing I agree with Fred Guttenberg on.
The brother of Meadow Pollack, another student who died in the attack, said on Twitter that he hoped Peterson spends “the rest of his life in prison.”
He probably won’t.
“He cowered in Parkland while my sister died defenseless and lied about his failure to confront the shooter,” Hunter Pollack said.
When that turd dies, I will take up a collection to have a new headstone put on his grave that says:
“Here is the final hiding place of the dickless, feckless, gutless, chicken shit coward, Scot Peterson. ”
It is not a prison sentence, but it will have to do.
I don’t think Warren v. District of Columbia or Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales apply to this case.
Those were both individual citizens asserting a right to be protected by the government.
This is the .gov charging that an employee failed to perform the assigned and agreed to duties, and further more prevented and impeded others from performing theirs.
This
“Warren v. DC said that police do not have a specific duty to protect citizens based on the public duty doctrine.”
How about when they were hired specifically for that purpose? The school contracted with them for security, they need to provide security, not just stand there and look stupid in uniform. At the very least they should make this a protracted legal battle and bankrupt the asshole. i always here that the process is the punishment. Well, let’s punish with gusto.
There is also a perjury charge in the indictment. Bargain everything else away, but keep the perjury charge. You avoid all the “No Responsibility to Protect” issues and he will serve jail time. Which is more than I ever expected.
If the DA bargains away the perjury charge, then you will know this is all theatrics to assuage us simple rubes. Cool out the marks and business as usual.
I am almost surprised that none of the families had someone go all Chris Dorner on Pederson and Israel. Thankfully we haven’t descended into vendetta as justice, yet.
I dont care if he serves a single day, as long as he is convicted of ANY felony, including perjury. That way, he will lose his 6 figure pension. That pension is as good as spitting on the graves of those dead kids.
Once upon a time cowardice was admonished by the present of a white feather…perhaps we need to resurrect that social act.
OK… I am going to be on the outside of popular opinion on this issue. But… I do not think criminal charges are warranted in this situation. Civil, maybe. Criminal not so much.
Here is my reasoning. (And, I will freely admit that I am ignorant about a lot of the details.) I do not see in Peterson’s job duties, description, or whatever an obligation to place himself in danger for another. Maybe it is part of the School Resource Officer assignment or somewhere else in the job duties. If it is, I will retract fully my statement.
However, unless the legal requirement to take action was present, the plaintiffs do not appear to have standing. Did he violate the law, or a legal requirement of his position by hiding behind a rock? From what I can tell with my limited knowledge, no, it appears he did not.
Important to note, we are talking about legal requirements here, not moral, ethical, or company policy. A CFO, or a CPA take on certain legal requirements when they assume the position, and can be personally liable if they fail to abide by those legal requirements. But, does a deputy take on a legal requirement to run toward gun fire?
That does not mean that I am not morally outraged by this coward’s action. If you want to be a police officer in the field, you better be prepared to risk your life. If you cannot do that, you should get a desk job. Peterson was providing school security. There was/is a very real chance that he might have to be engaged in a physical confrontation at some point, and he knew it. Deciding to run away is not a morally acceptable thing to do, and as such, he deserves to be fired, and he deserves the scorn that is being heaped on him.
But, without a clear legal requirement to have engaged the shooter, criminal charges are not warranted.
This is not really that different than the Sandy Hook people suing Remington in court because they are outraged about the actions of Adam Lanza. The emotions are taking over. Outrage and emotions do not create a crime.
Final note: If these charges do proceed, and he is found guilty, what will that mean for other police departments across the nation? What about fire departments? Will the people taking these jobs now be required to place themselves in danger, even if they do not have proper safety equipment?
And you just summarized the defendants arguments in Castle Rock, Warren, and Lozito. That is exactly what police departments have said and courts have upheld.
Somebody said that Florida law says he did actually have a duty to protect because he is an SRO. You live there, what is the actual law?
That is the real question, isn’t it?
Did his position carry a legal requirement to protect? If it did, and he did not perform his legally required job, criminal charges are warranted.
If not, I do not care how outraged the public is, criminal charges are wrong.
Is his salary actually paid by BSO, or by the school district? In some PDs, specific spots are funded by the protected entity (e.g., the Illinois State Troopers who patrol the Tollway are paid by the Toll Authority). If he’s paid by the school district, and the school district is acting in loco parentis, he may have a custodial duty to the students. (I’m not a lawyer, I’m just thinking out loud.
The FDLE and the Broward State Attorney must be using another theory of duty than the one already shot down twice by the Supreme Court.)
Please stay abreast of this. I’d like to see Peterson burn, and Israel with him, but I’m not holding my breath.