The Responsibility of Police Officers

LakeWashington · February 2018

Was it reasonable to expect the sheriff''s deputies to rush into the active shooter event at Stoneman Douglas High School? We hear that the Chief (and politicians) have used the word "coward," and reportedly the arriving cops from the neighboring town were upset to find Broward County deputies taking cover outside of the school building. I recall similar outrage from parents directed at the local police when cops waited to enter Columbine High School in Colorado 19 years ago.

I am not sure at present what was the best course of action. I'd like to believe that I would have been as brave as the teachers who re-entered Stoneman Douglas High School to save students, but I've never been tested like that. Few of us exhibit extraordinary courage. The civilian who made his way up the U of Texas Tower [with a couple of police officers] to stop the sniper comes to mind.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-florida-school-shooting-response-fail-20180223-story.html

sorghum · February 2018

A school armed guard may be paid for decades to do nothing, but the understanding is that when the fan is hit, he or she has to act promptly and bravely. Drawing a paycheck then running away for the only 5 minutes of your life when you are needed, yes, that's cowardly.

CTmom2018 · February 2018

The job is not for everyone! But if that is your job, then you have to do it.

roycroftmom · February 2018

Regardless of our expectations, few people will rush into a suicidal situation. The guard and police probably knew they were out-gunned and would be instant targets and their sacrifice would be in vain. I don't expect teachers to risk death either by protecting my child. They weren't hired to do that and often have their own children

Cardinal Fang · February 2018

Police nowadays are trained to consider their own safety too much, and the safety of the public too little. They are trained to protect and serve themselves in dangerous situations. That Means too often they shootiminnocent black people and people with mental illness to avoid taking the risk that the person in front of them might hurt them.

Their training should instead put more emphasis on their selfless duty to protect the public at some personal risk. Then, when the frightful duty to rush toward gunfire arises, in the back of their mind will be the thought that taking risks to protect people is what they signed up for.

roycroftmom · February 2018

Good luck getting such selfless employees for 45k per year.

Cardinal Fang · February 2018

The Parkland deputy made over $100,000 last year.

dadoftwingirls · February 2018

Here is what should have happened. Remember this is the police officer who has been at this school for years.

He should have went in, after he contacted the office which has oversight for the video cameras in the school. This office could have given him the quick information he needed such as number of shooters, weapons, location. With this information, he could then move in and try to engage the shooter from a place where he had some cover.

You are trying to get the shooter to stop shooting at the defenseless people and shoot over in your direction. This is why you want cover to protect you. At the same time, you could also direct the backup who enters the school to approach from a different direction to also engage and hope they can take out the shooter as the shooter is focused on the first cop.

No one was expecting this cop to run down the hallways at full sprint guns a blazing. However, i did expect him to run into the school to a good location where he could have been effective in keeping the shooter pinned down. If the resource officer didn't have the office phone number for video camera room and the cell phone for all the employees who work there, he totally failed in his preparation for a worst case scenario.

doschicos · February 2018

Weren't the video cameras on a 26 minute delay? They would be going in blind.

http://wtvr.com/2018/02/22/marjory-stoneman-douglas-security-footage-delay/

TatinG · February 2018

If the school guard doesn't go in and try to take out the shooter, what is he there for? Just to break up fist fights?

As for the Broward county deputies who waited outside, while the Coral Springs police went in, well...surely they had been trained in how to handle a mass shooting. Did they follow the training, the protocol? If they didn't they should be fired. If the training is to wait outside rather than to try and stop the carnage, then the training and protocol needs to be re-examined.

At the very least having police rush in, in most of these situations, seems to provoke the shooter to suicide, which ends it.

Consolation · February 2018

This reminds me of the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Pettit and her two daughters in Cheshire, CT.

The mother was raped and murdered, the daughters tied up and assaulted (at the least) and the house set on fire. The oldest daughter, who was a rower and a strong girl, managed to fight free of her bonds and made it to the stairs, where she collapsed and died of smoke inhalation.

While the big men of the police and fire departments huddled down the road. They didn't even approach the house.

It has never ceased to infuriate me.

Cardinal Fang · February 2018

Police officers nowadays are specifically trained to save themselves first. The same training that says, Save yourself, shoot the boy in the park with the toy gun, shoot the black guy reaching for his license after you just told him to give you his license is the training that whispers, Don't go in there, that guy has an AR-15 and he'll shoot you.

If we train the police to be cowards, they'll be cowards.

doschicos · February 2018

How many instances do you hear of when a police officer rushes in? Or is that just fodder for tv and the movies? Don't they typically wait for backup, wait for a swat team, assess the situation?

Rushing in doesn't seem to be standard protocol from what I can gather, especially when outpowered in terms of weaponry. What is actual protocol?

In terms of "police officers nowadays", perhaps one of the issues is cops in the past didn't have to deal with being outgunned to the extent they are now with these active shooter situations. What role does the proliferation of guns like AR-15s add to the equation? Weapons where it is so easy to just mow people down?

Iglooo · February 2018

From what I heard on the news, the protocol is after reporting the location on the radio, he was supposed to go in. I imagine he was wearing a bullet proof jacket. When Coral Springs police arrived there were 4 deputies taking cover. Isn't 4 a decent number to cover for each other for a lone 19 year old shooter? The 4 deputies should have been inside. If the shooter was still shooting, the delay could have meant life or death for some kids.

TatinG · February 2018

In the North Hollywood bank robbery shootout, the police rushed in. The robbers were armed with lots of high powered weapons and were wearing body armor. The police even went to a local gun shop to buy better, more high powered weapons as the shootout was taking place. The shootout went on for 40 minutes. No civilians were killed. No police officers were killed, some were wounded. The bank robbers died at the scene. The LAPD officers were lauded for their incredible bravery and skill. This was 20 years ago. The tactics worked.

milee30 · February 2018

This was not an "armed guard" who waited outside. The man was a full Sheriff's Deputy who was assigned to the school. This was not a $45k a year mall security guy with no training or weapon... he was a Sheriff's Deputy with full training, weapons, body armor. Many Florida jurisdictions have a deputy assigned to a school as a "School Resource Officer"; this is again a full Deputy with weaponry and the ability to arrest people.

NEPatsGirl · February 2018

Coward. Yes, it is always reasonable to expect a person paid to protect to do his job. I don't care how much money he makes, it was his job. Even if he was a $45K/year mall security guard or a school resource officer or a rookie on the town police force. These are kids.

What if the rookie on your police force refuses to do parts of his job because his starting pay is $40K? What if our military decided who/how/what to protect depending on their rank/pay? Should firefighters get decide whether they want to rescue someone from a fire?

I can say with a 99.9% surety that if I was armed in that same situation I would have gone in and tried to do whatever I could. There are women all over this world that put their own lives on the line for their children every day, teachers that do it every day for their students, neighbors who do it for each other. But we are paying someone to do the job and they don't do it. COWARD. Sitting back and collecting their nice paycheck for their cushy job, hoping they never have to do what they are paid to do. I am glad he has to live with this for the rest of his live, shame on him, good! I hope his is disqualified for pension too.

TatinG · February 2018

Oh no. He will get his pension. He retired in order to be able to get the pension.

sylvan8798 · February 2018

So if they arm teachers will those teachers be called cowards if they don’t all run in and try to shoot the assailant? Seems like you could get a lot of bullets flying.

milee30 · February 2018

In our area, the SRO assignments are considered plum jobs that are highly sought after among the deputies. Second only to the number of law enforcement officers who want to land one of the coveted jobs on the various boat patrols. (Yes, that's exactly what it sounds like. Thanks to drug bust confiscations, Homeland Security $$$ and a few other grants, many of our LEO agencies in our area of coastal Florida have fancy power boats - like $200k Scarabs - that they assign officers to "patrol" in. Not a bad gig cruising the coastal waterways...)

The deputies that get the coveted SRO jobs have to have been not only good deputies to be eligible for such a plum, but they receive additional training. If the training doesn't include protocol about school shootings or other types of violence on campus, that's a major failing of the sheriff's department. But then again, this case showed failings on the part of the FBI, local police, local sheriff, child protective services, school administration... so what's one more?

This kid was open about planning a school shooting for months. Multiple people reported the threat to the FBI, police, sheriff and school administration. LEO had been called to the kid's house dozens of times in the past few years yet no arrests or charges, so no criminal record to prevent him from owning a gun. The kid introduced himself to people as a "future school shooter" and made multiple social media posts about being a school shooter. CPS didn't seem to have much of a hand in monitoring him after his mom died and he was couch surfing at various friends. School admin was afraid of him and warned teachers to report it if he ever showed up with a backpack. This kid did everything but tattoo "SCHOOL SHOOTER" on his forehead. Many people noticed, every possible law enforcement agency was warned... but still nobody did a thing. Nothing. Even when he showed up and actually did it. Deputies - including the one assigned to the school - waited outside until after the shooting had stopped and the shooter wandered away to get a snack at a fast food place. Failure on multiple levels here.

TatinG · February 2018

I don't understand why the Florida students' anger is not directed at the FBI, the Broward county sheriff's deputies, the school police officer and school administration. Maybe a hastag "Do Your Job" is in order.

The Responsibility of Police Officers

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