U.S.A. — Scot Peterson, the retired school resource officer for Majorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is on trial for seven counts of child neglect (felonies), three counts of culpable negligence (misdemeanors), and one count of perjury.
On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a 19-year-old with a long history of anti-social behavior murdered 17 people and injured 17 others in Parkland, Florida at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Parkland is located in Broward County. The school resource officer at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School was Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson.
The 19-year-old murderer had been seen entering campus through an unlocked gate at 2:19 p.m., carrying what was described as a “rifle bag.” Through a series of policies designed to keep crime and discipline statistics low, several opportunities were missed to stop the young man before he started killing. A detailed account of the policies in place and how they failed to stop the murders can be read in “Why Meadow Died” by Andrew Pollack and Max Eden.
Police officers do not have a legal duty to enforce the law in any particular incident, even if they have been contacted and informed a crime is taking place. A police officer may be fired from his job. Police officers are almost always immune from lawsuits for doing nothing. They are almost never criminally charged. Richard W. Stevens wrote an excellent little book detailing this reality titled Dial 911 and Die, in 1999. The facts in the book are essentially unchanged. It is nearly impossible to win a lawsuit against a police officer for failing to act. Criminal charges have been extremely rare.
Former Deputy Scot Peterson is being charged for what he did not do. About four minutes after the murderer entered the campus, Peterson reported possible gunshots in building 1200. He did not run to the sound of the gunfire. He did not confront the killer while the mass murder was in process. He did not fire his sidearm to potentially make the killer wonder if the killer was under fire. He ran to a position of cover and stayed there until the situation was resolved.
Deputy Peterson was 55 years old and eligible for retirement. As criticism of his actions became louder during the investigation of the mass murder, he retired before he could be fired. He was fired retroactively. In his last year, Peterson was paid $101,879.03, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The 55-year-old Peterson, a Broward deputy for 32 years, was paid $101,879.03 last year — $75,673.72 in base salary plus overtime and other compensation, according to sheriff’s office records. Until the shooting, he was considered a trusted school resource officer at Stoneman Douglas, according to annual reviews of his performance.
His pension started at $8,702.35 a month, which would be $104,428.20 for 12 months. If found guilty of a felony, it is possible he could lose his pension and spend time in jail or prison. He would not lose his pension if convicted of a misdemeanor.
The state’s case against Deputy Peterson rests on a theory of a school resource officer having a special duty to protect the school children because he was assigned to the school. The seven felony counts of child neglect, four for children who were killed and three for children who were severely wounded, are based on this theory. The three misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence for two adults who were killed and one 19-year-old adult student (Meadow Pollack) who was killed are based on the theory. Culpable negligence has a higher standard of proof than child neglect. The eleventh count is for perjury. It is claimed Peterson made a false statement under oath during the investigation of the mass murder. From state.fl.us:
(e) “Neglect of a child” means:
- A caregiver’s failure or omission to provide a child with the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the child’s physical and mental health, including, but not limited to, food, nutrition, clothing, shelter, supervision, medicine, and medical services that a prudent person would consider essential for the well-being of the child; or
- A caregiver’s failure to make a reasonable effort to protect a child from abuse, neglect, or exploitation by another person.
The trial will go before a six-person jury. The jury is being chosen at this time. Most of the charges will depend on whether the jury can be convinced Peterson was a “caregiver” as well as a law enforcement officer.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office manual at the time is reported as saying an officer “may” directly and immediately respond to an active shooter. It is much different from saying an officer “shall” immediately respond. A sheriff’s office manual is not a set of legal statutes. It is difficult to predict what a jury will do. It is notoriously difficult to predict what people will do when confronted by a deadly threat. People who rush to danger are called heroes. Except for the military, there are no laws against cowardice or bad judgment in the face of a deadly threat. A six-person jury is easier to sway than a 12-person jury. This link has a discussion of what the right to a jury means.
Peterson says he did not know what was happening but thought there might be a sniper. From local10.com:
Peterson has defended his actions, saying he did not know where the gunman was and he thought a sniper may have been targeting the building.
In the law, the charge most likely to “stick” is the misdemeanor charge for perjury. Much depends on what was recorded and who claims to have heard what. The information will come out during the trial.
In the last few decades the United States has seen criminal charges filed against officers who were following procedure, but who were seen by the media as deserving of charges. These include the defendants in the Rodney King case and the George Floyd case. The media portrayal of Deputy Peterson is mixed. Many will say Deputy Peterson deserves all the pain now being inflicted on him. It is punishment by process. This correspondent believes if Deputy Peterson had intervened quickly, he could have saved lives. Looking backward is clearer than evaluation of the scene in real time. Proving Deputy Scot Peterson committed a crime, beyond a reasonable doubt, may be difficult.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
If he is not jailed he should never live a day without being harassed. He should be called coward anytime he is seen, he should be shunned and refused service at any business, his life should be made a living hell.
I believe he now lives in North Carolina.
As is printed on the front of a Claymore anti-personell mine “FRONT TOWARD ENEMY.”
I can’t think of a better way to die than protecting children like he should have done.
He probably took the position at the school because it payed more and got him off of risky patrol duty. By not doing his job to protect the children he violated the trust people have in the police and earned the title “Coward of Broward.”
we hire police that have not served in a military unit that saw live fire and expect them to act like a soldier ,at a higher rate of pay than a soldier gets something is wrong here in spades
This is what many of us lived for. The day when we might truly, make a difference. It was his big scene and he blew it.
I am amazed this coward makes multiple times more in pension than most honorably serving cops make working their butts off, putting in tons of hours.
Under this theory can ALL the cowards at Uvalde be charged? Fat chance.
To me, all of the other officers who stood around outside are just as culpable as Peterson – there was a distinct and obvious lack of leadership; these people ought to be bought to account.
So schools are designated as “gun-free zones” under the Gun Free School Zones Act and when these mass shootings happen law enforcement does nothing. Four of these mass murders at schools. Hmm…
It does look suspicious when the sheriff, who had multiple previous contacts with the shooter, seemed to be prepared in advance to trash the NRA and gun ownership. The sheriff’s office knew this guy and did nothing. The school resource officer, through his inaction, allowed the murders to happen. Then the, apparently preplanned, attacks on guns and the NRA started.
HMMMMMM!
there should be NO governmental immunity from prosecution. this comes from old english law, you can’t sue the king. why not? thank you scotus. government agents should be required to purchase their own professional liability to cover abuses they commit, just like i had to do as a medical professional. the taxpayers should not be held accountable when they did no wrong, the person committing the offense should be, and as we are when we do wrong. this broward coward and the uvalde cowards should not be allowed to wear badges and enforce laws. they also should never be allowed… Read more »
Finally, some possible justice for the Coward of Broward.
Hang this coward.
So he says that his excuse is that he was trained that way? After the Columbine Co. school mass murder where the cops stayed outside and waited for swat, the tactics had, and had to, change. In Co. they waited outside and listened to gunfire which obviously turned out to be some innocent kid getting murdered with every shot. There was a public uproar about this tactic and rightly so. It seemed to me that everyone could see the need for swift action. That being said, L.E. is NOT bound by law to protect the citizens in their theater of… Read more »
Reminds me of the parable about the hireling fleeing from the wolf! Arm the school personal that so choose!
I don’t know about all you other retired or former LEOs, but when I went thru the police academy in 1977, they taught us NOT to get “ tombstone courage “ and rush into a potentially lethal situation without back up. The caveat was immediate threat of injury or death. I’m reminded of the old song “ fools rush in where Angels fear to tread “. I’m not excusing Peterson by any means after he took a moment to ascertain the threat, then advance and neutralize that threat since it was an immediate threat to life. His actions were the… Read more »
he saw the threat coming carrying gun in bag he was at the advantage and he ran
He failed in his duty. He exhibited cowardice in the face of a deadly threat to those he was charged to protect. That’s career ending. If he hadn’t retired he would have had to be fired because he showed himself incapable of performing some of his duties as an officer. But that’s not a criminal act. There are always going to be some people who despite training can’t force themselves to run towards the danger when and if that time actually comes. For an awful lot of officers that time never came. For decades few police actually had to draw… Read more »
most cops are not worth a teachers pay
Say that when one pulls your unconscious body out of a burning car, or gives you CPR to keep you going until the paramedics arrive and are able save your life. I’ve done both, the CPR thing more than once. I’ve had to comfort children at an accident scene where their parents were just killed, delivered several death notifications to parents that their child had been killed in a car accident, or had overdosed. I’ve responded to too many suicides to count, some involving children. I’ve also attended way too many funerals of police officers that were killed or murdered… Read more »
100% agree with everything you said. And thank you.
As a student, it’s disheartening to read about the negligence of a school resource officer during the tragic events at Parkland. It’s crucial for us to feel safe and protected within our educational environments. However, amidst difficult study times, it’s important to find support and resources that can assist us academically. One such helpful platform is https://essaylab.com/paper_writers_for_hire , which provides valuable assistance for students facing challenging coursework. While the topic of the post is undoubtedly distressing, it’s essential for students to seek reliable academic resources during difficult times.
How about the security man who let the murder inside the building?
No doubt he knew he was outgunned, however, all he had to do was enter and report what he observed and provide intel to the teams on the way.
If they take away his pension, he would still get any sums he paid into the program.
As I understand it, in Florida, your pension is 100% paid by the state and/or your employing agency. That enables the state to deny your pension on grounds of criminal behavior or misconduct. Here in SC, the officer contributes to their own pension, along with the employing agency. Once vested in at 5 years, it is exceedingly difficult to deny payment. You are eligible for “full” retirement (54% of income) at 28 years. Used to be 25 until Nikki Haley and her cronies burned, looted, and pillaged, the system. From the officer’s point if view, there are advantages and disadvantages… Read more »
It’s easy to drop the Armchair QB Hammer on this guy. In reality, until one is actually, for real faced with responding, being under hostile fire, no one…No One….knows how one will react. Training is training….nothing else…..not real hostile situation. Have seen this scenario untold times in military,LEO, private situations. The innate human fear reaction is different in every person. Some rise to the threat; others freeze. Training does not totally weed out the “freezers.” Have experienced “training freezers” be the ones to charge, take enemy position when their friends start dropping for real. Conversely, have seen the “training jock”… Read more »
When you have to stretch the law in order to bring charges, for any crime, you are doomed to fail and are acting out in revenge (i.e. Bragg v Trump). Which the laws prohibit. It’s a sign you are doing something wrong. As much as we hope police will act in the face of danger, they have no duty. Pro-gun groups rely on this fact to push personal responsibility for one’s own safety. So, what? Are we going to flip flop on this to get this officer because we’re mad? Committing a process crime against him is even worse. How… Read more »