Scot Peterson

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Scot Peterson is a former law enforcement officer who resigned following criticism over how he responded to a school shooting.[1][2][3] Peterson had been a Sheriff's Deputy, for over thirty years, and had been assigned as a school resource officer to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, since 2009. After a review of surveillance video showed Peterson remained safely outside, while mass shooter Nikolas Cruz killed 17 staff and students, Peterson was placed on unpaid leave, pending a disciplinary review.[4] Peterson resigned later that day.

Law enforcement career

Peterson studied at Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International University, prior to joining the Broward County Sheriff's Department, in 1985.[5]

Billeted on campus

After he was appointed School Resource Officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Peterson was one of 32 officers who were billeted on campuses, in a program that stirred controversy.[1] Officers were provided with portable housing, under the rationale that school security would benefit if Police officers were known to live on the school grounds. Peterson spoke in favor of the program, when it was under review.[6] Critics described the billeting program as ineffective and expensive. Most officers failed to file their required logs. One officer sublet his trailer, rather than living there. Nevertheless, Peterson argued that it shouldn't be dismissed due to the non-compliance of some officers

Described as impeding attempts to determine whether Cruz was a threat to public safety

Cruz's behavior had triggered concern in 2016 and 2017.[1][7] Reason magazine quoted the report of Protective Services officials assigned to determine whether Cruz was a threat:

The school resource officer was contacted and refused to provide specific information to the investigator. Florida law does not give APS the authority to compel law enforcement to provide additional information during an investigation.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Robby Soave (2018-02-23). "School Resource Officer Who Failed to Confront Mass Shooter Previously Defended Cops Living at School Rent-Free: Scot Peterson, SRO of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, also failed to assist a CPS investigation into Nikolas Cruz.". Reason magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20180224064854/https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/23/school-resource-officer-scot-peterson-pa. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "Not only did Peterson fail to confront Cruz—he also failed to assist a previous investigation, undertaken by state authorities, to determine whether Cruz was a threat to himself or others." 
  2. Chuck Johnston, Jamiel Lynch, Dakin Andone (2018-02-22). "Armed school resource officer stayed outside as Florida shooting unfolded, sheriff says". CNN (Parkland, Florida). Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20180224132858/https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/us/florida-school-shooting/index.html. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "Israel made the decision to suspend Peterson -- who was armed and in uniform at the time of the shooting -- after interviewing the deputy and reviewing footage and witness statements, he said." 
  3. Alan Blinder, Patricia Mazzei (2018-02-22). "As Gunman Rampaged Through Florida School, Armed Deputy ‘Never Went In’". New York Times (Fort Lauderdale): p. A1. Archived from the original on 2018-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20180225043951/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting.html?mtrref=undefined. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "The New York Times reported on Wednesday that an officer from the Coral Springs Police Department who responded to the shooting had seen Deputy Peterson in a Stoneman Douglas High parking lot. The deputy “was seeking cover behind a concrete column leading to a stairwell,” Officer Tim Burton said." 
  4. Robby Soave (2018-02-22). "Armed School Resource Officer Stayed Safely Outside School While Mass Killing Was Underway". Reason magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20180224064856/https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/22/parkland-stoneman-school-resource-office#comment. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "When asked what Peterson should have done, Israel told reporters in no uncertain terms that the officer had a responsibility to confront the killer and attempt to stop him." 
  5. Stephen Hobbs, Scott Travis, Lisa J. Huriash (2018-02-23). "Stoneman Douglas cop resigns; sheriff says he should have 'killed the killer'". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20180224152750/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-florida-shooting-sro-20180222-story.html. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "Peterson, 54, came under scrutiny after 19-year-old Cruz entered a school building with an AR-15 rifle and killed 14 students and three educators on Valentine’s Day. Cruz later confessed, police said." 
  6. Karen Yi (2015-01-22). "Officers fight to keep 'cops on campus' program". Sun Sentinel. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-broward-roc-officer-audit-meeting-20150122-story.html. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "'These colleagues work hard. We are crime prevention, an audit report will never show how much we prevent,' said Scot Peterson, an officer who has lived at Atlantic Technical College in Coconut Creek since 2000. He said he's arrested several juveniles for breaking into school property." 
  7. Annalisa Mereli (2018-02-23). "A two-year timeline of FBI and police failures to stop the Parkland school shooter". Quartz magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-02-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20180223220342/https://qz.com/1214418/the-fbi-broward-county-sheriffs-office-and-scott-petersons-many-failures-to-prevent-the-parkland-school-shooting/. Retrieved 2018-02-24. "The BSO determined that Cruz “possessed knives and a BB gun,” and informed Scott Peterson, an officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School." 

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