Parkland School Resource Officer Receives $8,702 Monthly Pension

In April Broward County Sheriff and Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Resource Officer Scot Peterson began receiving monthly pension payments of $8,702, after resigning from his position less than two weeks after the February 14 school shooting.

Peterson was publicly chastised by Sheriff Scott Israel and President Donald Trump for allegedly failing to confront purported Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz.

Peterson and his attorney later defended the actions, arguing that Peterson was being “unfairly attacked” and pointing out that Israel “omitted” important information while scapegoating the deputy in the event’s aftermath.

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.

He was eligible to retire from the agency in July 2010 when he had 25 years of service, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman said Wednesday.

On Feb. 14, surveillance video showed Peterson waiting outside the school as Cruz prowled the halls with an AR-15 rifle. President Donald Trump branded Peterson a coward, and Sheriff Scott Israel began an investigation into his actions. Israel said Peterson should have “went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.”

The retired Broward deputy’s monthly payouts do not include medical benefits. An investigation of Peterson’s response to the shooting is ongoing, a spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff’s office said.

Really About “Extorting Pay Raise”, Israel Says

Editor’s Note/Update: It appears that the untimely and curious death of Deputy Jason Fitzsimons may have played a role in Broward deputies’ clear discontent with Scott Israel, something the story below does not delve into. The Deputies’ union association president, Deputy Jeff Bell, stated prior to the vote that the union is accusing Sheriff Israel of

“many instances of suspected malfeasance, misfeasance, failure to maintain fiduciary responsibility by the sheriff, failure to properly investigate possible criminal conduct by members of his senior command staff and the lack of leadership that has crushed morale throughout the agency.” (Emphasis added.]

As many MHB readers know, there has been a complete corporate media blackout of Fitzsimons’ death and the unusual circumstances surrounding it.

Brad Slager
SunshineStateNews
(April 26, 2018)

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s image-rebuilding effort took a major hit Thursday when 85 percent of the deputies who voted in the International Union of Police Associations, Local IUPA 6020, electronic balloting used their votes to say they want Israel gone.

Israel’s only ray of light in the union count is the no-show total: The number of deputies who didn’t vote outnumbered the ones who did. Of a 1,300-member roster, the union received back ballots from 628 deputies — 534 of them expressing their dissatisfaction.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

On Friday, April 20, the union local sent out electronic ballots. Members were asked to lodge their collective opinion on Israel’s future following tempestuous months within their ranks as a result of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Israel had become a lightning rod in the weeks after the tragedy, at first appearing as a media fixture, later becoming the focus of negative speculation. As evidence emerged of inaction taken by his deputies during the shooting, and his department failing to intervene with the shooter after numerous visits to his home, Israel was eventually viewed as the sheriff whose inadequate leadership had let his troops down.

Continue reading Broward Sheriff Scott Israel Receives Landslide ‘No Confidence’ Vote →