The Briefing Room

General Category => Editorial/Opinion/Blogs => Topic started by: EasyAce on February 23, 2018, 01:10:51 am

Title: Armed School Resource Officer Stayed Safely Outside School While Mass Killing Was Underway
Post by: EasyAce on February 23, 2018, 01:10:51 am

Sheriff on Marjory Stoneman Douglas cop's failure to act: "Sick to my stomach."
By Robby Soave
http://reason.com/blog/2018/02/22/parkland-stoneman-school-resource-office/print (http://reason.com/blog/2018/02/22/parkland-stoneman-school-resource-office/print)

Quote

A school resource officer who worked at Marjory Stoneman Douglas was on campus at the time of the mass shooting, but did not enter the building to engage the killer—even though the SRO was armed.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel suspended the SRO, 54-year-old Scot Peterson, after watching video footage of Peterson declining to enter the school during Nikolas Cruz's six-minute rampage; Peterson has now resigned, according to The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/02/22/armed-sheriffs-deputy-stayed-outside-florida-school-while-mass-killing-took-place/?utm_term=.5d264ae56948).

When asked what Peterson should have done, Israel told reporters in no uncertain terms (https://twitter.com/MarcACaputo/status/966801127168716800) that the officer had a responsibility to confront the killer and attempt to stop him . . .

. . . Two other officers have been placed on restricted assignment pending an investigation; we don't yet know whether these officers are guilty of similarly bad judgment.

Make no mistake—Peterson's failure to engage the shooter was a monumental error. We don't know whether the SRO would have been able to stop a psychopath armed with an AR-15, but it was his job to try; he might have at least slowed Cruz, thus saving lives. Why are we paying armed guards to keep schools safe if they flee the very danger they are supposed to prevent? . . .

. . . At the very least, these revelations about the abysmal incompetence of law enforcement should shake our confidence that more cops (https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/15/parkland-florida-shooting-cops-schools), more security, and more surveillance are the solution to mass shootings—and that the corresponding civil liberties tradeoffs are remotely justified.

Title: Re: Armed School Resource Officer Stayed Safely Outside School While Mass Killing Was Underway
Post by: driftdiver on February 23, 2018, 01:51:38 am

Wow what a cowardly bastard

Title: Re: Armed School Resource Officer Stayed Safely Outside School While Mass Killing Was Underway
Post by: driftdiver on February 23, 2018, 01:58:57 am

Last sentence makes me question whether this is true now that I think about it