Peterson trial starts. Not looking good for him.

| June 12, 2023

The trial of Scot Peterson, the ‘school resource officer’ at Parkland High School who famously waited outside the building while kids were getting shot, started last week.

Scot Peterson was on duty as a school resource officer when a gunman entered a building in Feb. 14, 2018 and opened fire, killing 17 and wounding another 17. Peterson never went inside while the shooting was underway, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and surveillance video.

Peterson, 60, was charged in 2019 with 11 criminal charges of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury, carrying a combined maximum prison sentence of nearly 97 years. It is highly unusual for law enforcement officers to be charged with failing to take action or provide care, raising the possibility that Peterson’s trial will set legal precedents.  Reuters

Precedent will be set if he is convicted, as previous rulings all the way up to the Supreme Court (ie: Warren v. District of Columbia, 1981 for e) have held that police have a generalized responsibility as part of their jobs but not a specific duty to protect individuals.

In this case, though, the “Broward County Coward” was hired specifically to guard the school campus and received active shooter response training.

Peterson’s defense attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, responded that Peterson was unable to determine the source of the gunfire while he waited outside, and ridiculed the idea that he should be charged with child neglect, “as if he’s a mother who fails to give a child water or food.”

Yeah, about that…

Peterson’s attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, on cross-examination, emphasized that Heinrich also couldn’t tell where the shots were coming from. Heinrich said that was true, but that if he had been armed he would have gone toward where he thought they were until he found the shooter.   WITN

Peterson didn’t leave his spot for about 40 minutes — about 35 minutes after the shooting had stopped.   TampaBay.com

Then we get the really damning stuff”

On the third day of Peterson’s trial, Coral Springs officer Richard Best related what he says Peterson told him outside the classroom building, WPLG-TV reported.

“I said, ‘Hey brother, what do we got?’” Best told the jury. “He said, ‘Gunshots second or third floor.’”   AP

So the guy who didn’t move for 40 minutes because he didn’t know where the shots were originating  – did.

You have to wonder how many times he bragged about his job, that he was the point guy to keep those kids safe. You know, you take the money to do a job, you don’t just do nothing when the defecatory matter hits the ventilators – you may be scared, but that doesn’t matter. You were happy to have our pay and respect when it wasn’t hard: when it DOES get hard, suck it up and do your damn job. If I were him, I think I’d be sweating some.

Category: Crime

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AW1 Rod

REAL protectors move TOWARD the sound of gunfire. They don’t run from it. Calling this clown a coward is an understatement.

HT3

He made a “business decision” and went ROAD on those poor children. They didn’t deserve that,
The Nashville PD showed everybody how its done. Find the shooter and ELIMINATE the threat…done and done!

rgr1480

Is ROAD still used? If not, for you youngsters, it means Retired On Active Duty and is pronounced Roe-ADD.

11B-Mailclerk

It helps if you train for it.

I have personally participated in hundreds of man versus man training scenarios, from street interaction gone bad to barricaded shooter. Practice makes a difference. Most folks can’t change mental gears fast enough.

Peterson may well have been stuck in mental park. Yeah, balls help, but training and courage beats raw courage. And you can train over cowardice to some extent. The poor schmuck works with the team before he realizes he needs new boxers. Out of habit.

That training also should be highly variable, against the dirtiest cheating SOBs you can find, so you don’t train in bad habits.

Example: “barricaded shooter with big rifle, already killed six” in a multi-story school. SWAT team assaults the front door, Roman Legion style behind a shield wall.

They never, not even once, looked up.

Ouch.

5JC

The first time one of my lieutenants had to deal he was having a tough time after. I told him pretty much exactly that.

It isn’t everyone who moves towards the sound of the guns, but we did, and if he found out that he wasn’t about this life then go do something else with his life and don’t look back. The difference is that Peterson never had to find out until it was too late.

Twist

Pretty much from the very beginning of training in the Amy it is pounded into your head that you move towards the gunfire so much so that it becomes second nature. I remember one of the first times I was in contact during my first Iraq tour where the gunshots happened that before I realized it I was already a couple of pieces of cover towards the shooting from my starting position and kind of wondering “how the hell did I get here?”.

Anonymous

P*ssy

Odie

You’re being too kind.

Anonymous

Puto? (Man-‘ho for bennies, hides from danger.)

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
11B-Mailclerk

SCOTUS previously recognized a general duty to protect. If a school full of kids is under attack by a crazed gunman, and that doesn’t fall under the “general duty”, then nothing does and there is no duty.

Which would be insane.

He can argue all day rational caution and a general intent to save some, thus he may still dodge that duty. Which would still be kinda nuts.

Perjury? That would be hilarious if he gets busted for lying about his actions.

If the courts do sustain a duty, and thus a punishment, expect to see a blue city exodus of LEOs. Do or don’t = fucked.

5JC

They are arguing a specific duty to protect the people at the school since he was hired to you know, protect the people at the school.

I am certain things like his duty tasks and description will be presented at the trial.

MarineDad61

Website for Peterson’s lawyer.
It’s like an ad for Ronco.
Or colon cleanser.
Except it’s for his “boutique litigation firm”.
Includes a list of his TV appearances, including “The View.”

https://www.eiglarshlaw.com/mark-eiglarsh.html

rgr769

Eiglarsh has appeared on Fox multiple times re notorious criminal cases.

fm2176

He chose a profession that is widely regarded as not only public servants, but also as protectors. To Protect and Serve used to be commonly seen on most cop cars. Further, by virtue of his assignment as an SRO, his duty was to serve as both community outreach and as a first line of defense for the students. He failed, not through his actions but rather his inactions. Had he attempted to take on the shooter and been wounded or killed in the attempt, he’d have been hailed as a hero. Instead, he’s rightfully branded a coward and will likely soon be a convicted felon.

11B-Mailclerk

To serve the political masters and protect the status quo.

fm2176

Nowadays, yes, particularly when it comes to federal LE agencies, state-level LEOs serving on protective details, and higher-ups in large local agencies.

I’m old enough to remember when Defund the Police was the catchphrase of the day, riots were running rampant, federal courthouses and police precincts were being destroyed, and police were being assaulted. Suddenly, Metro DCPD and US Capitol Police were hailed as heroes while other (alleged) Feds and cops instigated the Worst Day in American History.

Last edited 1 year ago by fm2176
Anonymous

How Democrats like ’em:
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Anonymous

He joined up for the pension and bennies…

KoB

A Brave man dies only once…a coward dies 1000 times. He had one job…protect the school. He failed…miserably. May the Souls of the murdered torment him for all eternity.

Anonymous

Not that it’ll personally bother his selfish ass.

11B-Mailclerk

If he, as a former LEO, goes to prison, it will likely “bother his selfish ass”.

Anonymous

Hopefukly. (Apologies to Ned Beatty.)
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Old tanker

I am interested in the trial and how it will work out. I intensely dislike the guy and frankly think he deserves to get hosed good.

On the other hand I have to think about something else. We, at least those of us who join the Military or Law Enforcement, all have that nagging thought in the back of our mind. How will we react to deadly force. We all hope that we will not freeze and do like this guy did. Unfortunately, none of us get to answer that question until really faced with it.

The Military trains to use teamwork, ie battle buddy. That helps as you do not want to let your buddy down and the two of you end up reinforcing the actions of the other. You fight for the guy next to you.

Often the Leo’s don’t have the option. They work alone in their car or on their bike unless the department is funded well enough to hire sufficient Officers / Deputies to work in pairs. My old Dept didn’t have that option and you almost always worked solo.

This guy was on his own, no one to help bolster his “courage” or cover his actions. That simply is a stone cold bitch of a situation to be in and it takes intense training and frankly a prior decision that when faced with a deadly situation you roll the dice. This guy was wanting and because of that far too many people died.

The trial will set precedent for taking action or not and how the law will hold those who do not.

The Leo’s can’t be everywhere all the time which was why the earlier court decision said there is no duty for individual protection. In this case he WAS there and did not take action. That is how I see the possible court decision impacting the earlier ruling rather than a general dismissal of the prior case law.

Veritas Omnia Vincit

I feel the same with respect to interest in seeing how this plays out. I can see a win on appeal if it goes south in court during the trial due to previous SCOTUS decisions that the “duty to protect” is too vague to enforce in a reasonable fashion even perhaps in the face of “freezing up” during a dangerous situation.

5JC

The only time policing is done in pairs these days is:

TrainingSafety, where the patrol zone is so dangerous that there has to be two to start a callNon-Certified Reserve Officers and other specialists like chaplains and a few othersSpecialized Pursuit Vehicles
The passenger seat is now filled with computers, printers, paperwork and tools. In theory you can respond to twice as many calls with the same number of officers. In fact though, many calls are either too dangerous or too complicated to send one officer to (DV, Mental Subject creating disturbance, Passed out Subject, DUI, Fights, Disruptive/ hostile Subject with Weapon etc). A lot of departments are so short they will send only one anyway to scope it out and see if the officer can handle it alone. A lot of assaults happen this way.

Responding to an active shooter is generally done in 2’s and 3’s as the officers arrive to the scene. Honestly though, if there is an SRO at the school he normally goes straight to it. The SRO’s tend to form emotional bonds with the kids and understand their role.

Where response tends to fail is lack of will (this case) or lack of training, skills, leadership and coordination (Uvalde). The Columbine shooting was a little different because firstly there were bombs and secondly it was practically the first one and no one had a clue what was going on or what to do.

https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai21-476.pdf

Last edited 1 year ago by 5JC
Anonymous

Clearly, wussy-boy didn’t do any of that normal SRO stuff.

11B-Mailclerk

If he had waited for -a- partner or -a- “battle buddy”, then gone hunting, we might be armchair quarterbacking his play, but unlikely saying “coward”.

He wasn’t waiting for partner or backup or buddy. He was waiting for someone else to do his job.

5JC

He was actively holding people back from doing their job too. Not sure if it was envy or trying to cover his tracks by muddling things worse, or if he was still in panic mode.

Anonymous

Send him to prison. Tell folk there he’s a pedo, too.

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
A Proud Infidel®™

That won’t even be necessary. As soon as the other inmates learn he’s ex-LEO he’s dead meat!

5JC

Most of the time when a LEO goes to prison they lock him up with other LEOs in their own unit. Not sure which is worse, having that many in jail or having them all together.

What it means though is that prison for cops is a lot more like how it is supposed to be instead of training camp for criminals.

Anonymous

Leroy Jenkins he wasn’t.

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
Anonymous

Courage is being scared sh*tless and doing your job anyway. This man had none and, knowing that, effectively lied about it.

NHSparky

Next up, Uvalde PD, et al.

Anonymous

Yes, please!

SFC D

Just my non-LEO opinion, but this guy seems to be a mediocre officer parked in what was viewed as an out-of-the-way job while the retirement clock ticked down. My understanding is that the job came with a trailer for this officer. When the shit hit the fan, he failed spectacularly. He was the final turd in a shitstorm that started with the local PD, Sheriff, and school system that failed to act years before a single shot was fired. They’re all culpable. The same system that produced David Hogg. Go figure. YMMV.

5JC

Maybe, but we will never know for sure. If he had just done his job or gotten out of the way, things probably would have been different.

Anonymous

Just in… Trained lots on what he should do and still didn’t do it:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-deputy-didnt-extensive-training-175655839.html

rgr1480

Heinrich said that was true, but that if he had been armed he would have gone toward where he thought they were until he found the shooter…

[my emphasis added]

So he was not armed? Are school resource officers not armed?

Green Thumb

This outcome will have huge implications.

Example: What happens when two cops refuse to engage someone in the act of a violent crime on the street due to the possibility of them (cops) being prosecuted / persecuted for malice toward a minority suspect?

What do you do?

rgr769

Let the pavement predator continue to pave.

Green Thumb

I get it.

But its a strong observation.

rgr769

I saw video of the concrete wing wall he was hiding behind while the shooting continued. He apparently spent 35 minutes there during the attack.

Commissar

Interesting. He might of avoided charges if he had been up front and honest about his cowardice. But his efforts to cover it up and his lies sunk him.

Hard to feel bad for a guy who stood by while children were being shot.

The cowardice is only half the problem. He accepted pay for an armed position knowing what was expected of him. He not only did nothing when children’s lives were on the line, the fact that he took that job meant someone who might have acted was not hired:

Last edited 1 year ago by Commissar