Sro- Scot Peterson

Discussion in 'In the News' started by Bobby Cole, Feb 23, 2018.

  1. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    In the last two days, the main topic on the radio and the net seems to be how the Student Resource Officer (SRO), Scot Peterson, reacted after the shooting began at the Stoneman Douglas High School.

    The focal point at this time is that the SRO was NOT across the campus when the shooting was going on as previously reported but instead, was just outside a door very near the war like events that were taking place inside the school.
    As a sheriff's deputy, Peterson did Not attempt to go in the building thereby denying whatever armed protection he might have been able to provide the students.

    Those are just the basics and after everything I have heard and read concerning the person of Scot Peterson and the whole debacle, I would like to simply open things up and let's see what kind of reaction this community of seniors has to offer up.
     
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  2. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I'm only hearing or reading about this today!

    If he was such a coward...why didn't he at least give his gun to someone like the two adults who died trying to protect the kids with their bodies.

    Ive just read a few articles and haven't seen the reason as to why he didn't try to kill Cruz....did he freeze?? What happened?

    Seems he was making a good salary doing nothing. He was fired after this but he also resigned...if I was him I'd also move. ....but he'll still always have to live with this.

    Guess maybe having armed security isn't the answer..
     
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  3. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Lately, that is a key question. On the average, Florida employs 2.5 police officers for every 1000 citizens. That's not counting the Sheriff's department, State Troopers, ICE, or any other law enforcing entity......just police.
    The High School in question has over 3000 students and only one sheriff's deputy who says he was going according to protocol and awaiting backup.
     
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  4. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Maybe protocol should be changed....waiting for backup when he can kill 17 in 3 minutes isn't very smart.
     
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  5. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    True. There is a lot of talk out there calling him a coward while a small few are saying that he did what he was supposed to do. Right now, Scot is under police protection from all of the death threats.
    His background certainly doesn't indicate that he had any problems facing serious conditions but just the same, he didn't try to really get in there to help.
    Unarmed teachers and coaches were giving themselves up as live barricades between the kids and the bullets but Scot..........just listened outside a door.

    Now, the other side of it is that he was hired by the Sheriff's department and was qualified as fit both mentally and physically for service and yet they have also thrown him under the bus.
    Is it the fault of the SRO for not responding in a life threating situation or is it the fault of the Sheriff's department for not finding someone more qualified such as a younger military veteran?
     
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  6. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I don't think it was the sheriff's fault that he didn't do anything. Lots of people,dropped the ball in this school shooting.

    Lots of things have to be looked at.

    In any case....I heard that school grounds are 45 acres....one person can't patrol all that.

    Even if the shooter couldn't go inside the school ...all he has to do is wait for school to end and they all coming running, walking out and are sitting ducks for a shooter.

    When I pick my 14 yr old grandson up from school sometimes I'm just parked along the drive that school busses are also.

    If I had an AK-15 I could shoot at least 20 just from my car. Nobody checks who's in the cars parked by the school for afternoon pick up.
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Apparently, Deputy Peterson wasn't alone. There were four deputies outside the building while people were being shot inside.
     
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  8. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    As of this morning (Saturday) the news is reporting that there were 3 others who stayed behind their vehicles at the scene. Police officers stated that the sheriff's deputies didn't even enter into the building when they did.
    Sheriff Israel of Broward County highly condemned the actions of Scot Peterson but didn't expound on the lack of engagement by his other deputies that were there before the police arrived.
    The total focus has been planted on Peterson without much regard for the rest of the Broward County Sheriff's department which also includes 2 other deputies who were alerted much earlier about the shooter himself.

    Note: I am not defending nor slamming the personage of Scot Peterson but merely trying to get some answers as to what kind of agency should be handling the protection of our students across the country. The deputies of Broward Country seem to be little more than gun toting prisoner transport and subpoena servers which brings up the question of who should be responsible in the future?

    1. Are the deputies trained for the job?
    2. Did Peterson and other deputies freeze or were they told to stand down? As well trained as our military is, a Scot Peterson event of indecision is not all that rare with soldiers who have never been subjected to actual combat conditions. It is also not that rare that command decisions are either late or non existent in the military so was there a possible break down with the higher ups? Or, was Peterson indeed..........a coward?
    3. Should we start demanding that teachers be trained and armed? Certainly, in the formation of our country there were probably many teachers who were well armed during a school session.
    4. Should dereliction of duty be a prosecutable offense in court if other on patrol Student Resource Officers are found "wanting" in other future events?(And I do fear that there will be future events) With that, should "dropping the ball" be a prosecutable offense for the higher ups and FBI agents who process and supposedly share information that would thwart the possibility of someone like the shooter legally owning a firearm?
     
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  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The first story that I heard was that he didn't go in because he was following protocol, which was to wait for backup to arrive. Then they started saying that he had been ordered to wait. Then they started calling him a coward, so I don't know which of these is true.

    They may well have a protocol for a man with a gun situation, but it probably didn't take into account that there were thousands of children, and that the man with the gun was shooting them. Protocols have to allow for common sense alterations.

    For many years now, we have had a federal program aimed at getting military veterans into the classroom. I think they still need to have a degree, which many receive while in the service, but they are given a shortcut to a teaching certificate. My son-in-law got his teaching certificate that way. He had to go back to school for it but it was accelerated. Given this, I think we can assume that here are quite a few veterans in the classroom, some of whom would rather be able to have a weapon in such a case rather than acting as a human shield, as some teachers have done.

    I don't think most people want to have armed guards stationed in the hallways, and there's a very good chance that the people they'd hire for that position wouldn't be particularly effective. I'm thinking mall security people here.

    At any rate, I don't see a point in having an armed cop in a school if he has to wait outside for backup whenever a situation comes up.
     
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