Unprepared and Overwhelmed (Multiple policy failures cost lives at Parkland, FL)

South Florida Sun Sentinel ^ | 12/28/2018

[Drew68]

Failures by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and school district cost children their lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

A gunman with an AR-15 fired the bullets, but a series of blunders, bad policies, sketchy training and poor leadership helped him succeed. Information reported over 10 months by the South Florida Sun Sentinel reveals 58 minutes of chaos on campus marked by no one taking charge, deputies dawdling, false information spreading, communications paralyzed and children stranded with nowhere to hide.

To be sure, a number of teachers and police officers performed heroically. But an examination of the day’s events reveals that the Sheriff’s Office and school district were unprepared for the crisis.

Here’s a minute-by-minute look at those critical moments on Feb. 14, 2018.

2:19:54 p.m.

Security entrusted to unarmed coaches

A campus watchman has a chance to stop gunman Nikolas Cruz before any blood is shed. But he doesn't do it.

Medina shouldn’t have been in that job – school investigators had recommended he be fired for sexually harassing students, but district administrators overruled them.

Medina is the first of three school employees who fail to call for a school lockdown after learning a gunman is on campus.

2:21:16 p.m.

Second unarmed monitor spots gunman, turns the other way

David Taylor, the campus monitor who was alerted by Medina, walks into the first-floor hallway toward Cruz, who goes into the stairwell. At that point, Cruz has yet to pull his gun from the carry bag.

Taylor turns around, later telling investigators he intended to use stairs at the opposite end of the hallway to intercept Cruz on the second floor.

[Drew68]

A minute by minute breakdown of the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School, of policy procedures put in place after Columbine that weren't followed, of acts of cowardice by trained responders, and a general "Charlie Foxtrot" where every step that could have failed seemingly did.

Long but interesting read.

[ronnie raygun]

Unprepared and Overwhelmed, BULLS###!!!the a##clown and his henchmen devised policies that were told to be put in place if they wanted the money to flow. They all sat by and let this happen and shame on those parents who could not see thru the bulls### that costs their children their lives

[T-Bird45]

Excellent article - thanks for posting. Nearly 20 years past Columbine & still learning the same lessons. Just 😢

[9YearLurker]

Intended, or at least incidental to, the intended outcome?

[FreedomPoster]

They didn’t cover the first big policy failure, that of the Broward Promise, which led to this kid never being properly dealt with before the shooting event despite many warning signs. The school board and the sheriff were both all in on that policy failure.

[Liz]

Assuming Officer Scot Peterson has nominal intelligence----knows he's a P/O with clear duties-----the question is "why didnt he go in?"
The answer is easy.......if Peterson went in and apprehended a minority (Cruz the shooter)......this would have stopped up the federal tax dollars Obama was pouring into Broward. Big Money ...as long as they kept minorities off the arrest roles. Deputy Peterson was apparently ordered to "wait outside."

Adhering to The Obama Plan was clearly the order of the day.

Broward police captain Jan Jordan inexplicably told sheriff's deputies to 'stage' and form a perimeter outside the shooting...... as students and teachers were being massacred inside. Jordan also denied deployment of two Rescue Task Force teams that had arrived. Three paramedics and 3-4 officers had rushed to the scene to help---but Jordan denied them entry.....

That's a woman: Police Capt Jan Jordan, 49, was in charge of deputies who responded to the first calls of the shooting.
Broward Sheriff Scott Israel himself placed Captain Jan Jordan in charge of the school massacre scene.

Jordan has since left her Captain's job, but she, like Peterson and Sheriff Israel are still cashing Broward paychecks.

[rrrod]

You are exactly right.

[Liz]

Also "in charge" that infamous day was Obama's hand picked pal from Chicago----Broward County School Supt, Robert Runcie.

Runcie got a $28,000 raise and additional benefits under his contract.The deal brings Runcie’s salary to $335,000 and extends his employment through June 30, 2023.Under the new contract, Runcie would:
-- Be able to trade in 15 of his 29 vacation days for a cash value of $20,500.
-- Get $48,000 contributed annually from the school board for retirement plans
-- Be allowed to earn a pension based on four years of his service in Chicago,
estimated to cost taxpayers $80,000.

More than 30 people lined up mostly to praise Runcie’s work since he started in 2011. Leaders of local community organizations, businesses and schools praised improved student achievement, Runcie’s communication skills and inclusion and protection of immigrants and minorities under Obama's vaunted "Promise" plan.

Runcie collected $53 million tax dollars from Obama for keeping minorities off arrest records.

Then the massacre took place.

Runcie was named Supt of The Year.

[1Old Pro]

Bottom line, trained armed personnel is the solution that works, not some stupid kid anti-gun activists that the media promotes.

[Liz]

"Happy Days" pic of Broward Sheriff Israel with Cong Debbie W/S, a Broward resident.

It is common for a Congressman to secure federal monies for their district.
What part did D/W/S play in securing the $58 million bribes, er, I mean, tax dollars
Obama showered on Broward for keeping minorities off the arrest roles?

Did D/W/S help keep track of the arrest records to assure Obama no minorities got onto the police records?

Can D/W/S Sheriff Israel and Runcie account for the $58 Obama millions .....and the $800 million Sheriff's budget?

[Liz]

A good read....thanks for posting.

[Sans-Culotte]

The Sun Sentinel must be a conservative organ, because a liberal rag would never publish something showing how the liberal law enforcement in the area failed so miserably. If I were Deputy Peterson I would have killed myself by now.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Dude !

There was plenty of heroism.

“Athletic director and campus monitor Chris Hixon is already at Building 12. He enters the double doors at the west end of the hall and runs toward Cruz.

Cruz shoots Hixon, who crawls to take cover in a nearby doorway. Cruz finds him about 30 seconds later and shoots him again.”

Heroism without planning or tools just leaves the hero dead and the killer on the loos to shoot again.

[arthurus]

Liberals, including those in law enforcement have a high quotient of cowardice to go with their fanatic delusionalism.

[TheDandyMan]

The issue is mostly bureaucratic — I think most cops have the desire to protect their community, but it’s got to be difficult to switch from “regular day issuing minor traffic citations” to “rush into gunfire” mindsets. What makes it even harder is that a shooting could happen anytime, anywhere, but most likely will never happen in any one place, so how do you maintain the level of readiness for something that will never happen? And in the system-shocking moment when it does happen, and when the upper echelons validate the natural desire to pause before storming into rifle fire by ordering police to set up a perimeter and wait (while the bureaucrats flounder), you end up with people dying while a Bearcat full of guys dressed out like Spetznaz stand outside.

On the other hand, if there were courageous senior LE onsite to rally the troops, so to speak, I think you’d have no shortage of officers ready to go straight in...And that individual pictured upthread, the lady who was captain onsite...Not inspiring, and clearly a personal coward by her actions.

[kenmcg]

“Unprepared and Overwhelmed (Multiple policy failures cost lives at Parkland, FL)”

...and don't forget a very small number of yellow bellied cops.

[Drew68]

There was plenty of heroism.

Yes, there were.

And acts of cowardice by people who were trained (and paid) to take charge. Indeed, this was their job!

[lonestar67]

A shocking but great example of what a truly free press would look like.

Anyone who thinks they have an opinion on this school shooting should read this piece.

[VietVet]

An impressive piece of investigative reporting by the Sun-Sentinel of a very unimpressive performance by Broward County Law Enforcement.

[Panzerfaust]

Excellent article, thanks for posting it!