The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, one of the largest police departments in Florida, lost its state accreditation last week after it mishandled two mass shootings.
The Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditations voted unanimously to revoke the state accreditation of the Fort Lauderdale-based sheriff’s office. The commission cited the department’s inadequate response during the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland that killed 17 and the 2017 Fort Lauderdale airport shooting that killed five.
“During the rating period of the time we’re talking in question here, there were substantial periods where they were not in compliance with how they performed in the field,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in an audio recording obtained by the Miami Herald. “As a result, we saw the catastrophic loss of life and injuries and what transpired because of lack of following procedures and things in place.”
The commission is made of sheriffs, police chiefs, and other high-profile law enforcement officials from around the state. Their job is to determine if state law enforcement agencies have proper regulations on the books and enforce those standards among their employees.
“What happened this past year, the best practices were not exhibited on the day of that tragedy. There were multiple policy failures, training failures, leadership failures, [and] equipment failures,” another member of the commission said.
State accreditation requires a department to meet over 200 standards and allows them to standardize practices, better defend against lawsuits, and lower their insurance rates. The loss of accreditation, a voluntary certification, will not affect Broward County Sheriff’s Office operations in a major way, according to the Miami Herald.
This latest blow to the already embattled sheriff’s office comes after several department firings related to the botched response to the Parkland shooting.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Sheriff Scott Israel from office in January because of his “repeated incompetence and neglect of duty.” Israel has already filed paperwork to run for the position again in 2020.
Four deputies, including school resource officer Scot Peterson, were fired in June as a result of their inaction during the Parkland shooting. Peterson, 56, was arrested and charged with child neglect, culpable negligence, and perjury.
The commission’s draft report also criticized the Broward County police force for poor communication that led to chaos during the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office first received state accreditation in 2001. The department may seek re-accreditation in September at the commission’s next meeting.
