Posted on 02/25/2018 7:35:05 AM PST by COUNTrecount
Embattled Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said he had provided "amazing leadership" to his department on Sunday, drawing disbelief from CNN host Jake Tapper.
Tapper pressed Israel during a nearly half-hour interview about the response of his department before and during the Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
Israel announced Thursday that school resource officer Scot Peterson had been suspended and decided to retire rather than be terminated after learning Peterson failed to enter the school during the massacre and engage the shooter.
Israel also defended the conduct of his department in response to the 18 calls its deputies got about the killer, Nikolas Cruz, including fears he could be a "school shooter in the making." No report was initiated upon that tip.
Tapper asked Israel, who participated in CNN's town hall on guns on Wednesday and called for stronger gun control laws, if he could see how the public would be critical when it saw so many red flags go ignored by the department.
"How could there not even be a report on this one?" Tapper asked.
"If that's accurate, Jake, there needed to be a report and that's what we're looking in to, that a report needed to be completed, it needed to be forwarded to our homeland security or violent crimes unit and they would've followed up on it," Israel said.
Tapper noted Israel's conditional remarks, pointing out it was notes from Israel's own department. Israel responded the officer who handled that situation was on restrictive duty.
"I've exercised my due diligence, I've led this county proudly as I always have," he said. "We have restricted that deputy as we look in to it. You know, deputies make mistakes, police officers make mistakes, we all make mistakes, but it's not the responsibility of the general or the president, if you have a deserter. You look into this. We're looking into this aggressively, and we'll take care of it and justice will be served."
"Are you really not taking any responsibility for the multiple red flags that were brought to the attention of the Broward Sheriff's Office about this shooter before the incident?" Tapper asked.
"Jake, I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence. I've given amazing leadership to this agency—" Israel started.
"Amazing leadership? Tapper asked incredulously.
"Yes, Jake. There's a lot of things we've done throughout this—this is—you don't measure a person's leadership by a deputy not going into these deputies received the training they needed—" Israel said.
"Maybe you measure somebody's leadership by whether or not they protect the community," Tapper said. "In this case, you've listed 23 incidents before the shooting involving the shooter and still nothing was done to keep guns out of his hands, to make sure that the school was protected, to make sure you were keeping an eye on him … I don't understand how you can sit there and claim amazing leadership."
Israel said on "16 of those cases," his deputies did everything right and in the five years he had been sheriff, he'd taken the department to a "new level."
"One person didn't do what he should have done," Israel said. "It's horrific. The victims here, the families, I pray for them every night. It makes me sick to my stomach that we had a deputy that didn't go in because I know if I was there, if I was on the wall, I would have been the first in along with so many other people.
I call Bullshit..
This Sheriff is just like the idiot governor of Louisiana during Katrina.
They both look for someone else to blame for their incompetence.
True statement. All rational people were amazed at the actions of those who followed his leadership. How did he train his men so well that four out of four preferred to cower while children were shot? Amazing leadership - evil but amazing!
Sheriff dumbass. An empty suit like Hussein Obama. He won’t be attending any sheriff’s conventions anytime soon, where he will be the butt of a million jokes.
Deny, deflect and blame everybody else. The Democrat mantra.
“I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence.”
“Due diligence” is pussified lawyer language.
I’d like to see some memes that compare/contrast Broward Sheriff’s department to the brave actions of the JROTC Cadets.
There are provisions that allow the governor to remove a sheriff. I suggest he implement them.
>>> ..... you don’t measure a person’s leadership by a deputy not going into these deputies received the training they needed—” Israel said.
“Nuff said.
Stick a fork in him - he’s done.
"Mistakes were made." /Waco, TX>
So let's just continue the thought process.
"Amazing Leadership..."
"Amazing Headship..."
"Amazing Head..." to Soros.
/sarc>
Hey, it fits as well as any other conspiracy theory.
And ya know, this all got set up when we let ATF murder all those kids at Waco.
Calling Sleepy Sessions and Wray how about getting your asses down to Broward. Time for a major investigation into Cop and School collusion into defrauding the American tax payer by looking the other way with Juvenile Crime for the purpose of higher Federal funding.
If you can turn the Ferguson PD upside down, you can do the same Broward Sheriff’s Office.
When CNN of all places is starting to call out your incompetence, you know you are in trouble.
Innocent people get slaughtered - You did an Amazing Job “sheriff”!
You Damn fool!
Yes immediately.
Dry mouth = Liar and I am not a detective
The kid who’s day was the retired FBI agent was on some show defending the deputy’s who never entered the school.
The dad spoke, not “the children”.
Bingo!
It sounds just like Obama. He's just an outsider, and his leadership is wonderful.
And he only learned about the reports from the newspapers... :^)
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