By John Vibes
In the aftermath of the recent Parkland school shooting, the cowardice of many of the police who responded to the shooting has created an ongoing conversation in the media about the role of individual officers in life-threatening situations.
As we reported last month, 4 officers from the Broward County Sheriff’s office took cover and waited for backup during the shooting instead of going inside to stop the killer. The officers’ actions sparked outrage and left many people horrified at the fact that so many cops would stand on the sidelines as children were being murdered.
It turns out that there were actually a few officers who had the courage to go in after the killer—but now they are being punished for it. According to the Sun-Sentinel, two Miramar SWAT team members are being suspended for going into the school to stop the shooting because they did not have permission to do so.
The SWAT members were suspended on the grounds that their attempt to help created an “officer safety issue and left them unaccountable for their actions.”
Miramar SWAT team commander Captain Kevin Nosowicz wrote a memo to the officers on Feb. 22 which stated,
On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, you responded to an incident within the city limits of Parkland. This response was conducted without the knowledge or authorization from your chain of command. Self Response to incidents outside of our jurisdiction creates a lack of accountability for your actions. This type of response also creates an officer safety situation due to dispatch not knowing your location or activity. Effective Immediately you have been temporarily suspended from the SWAT Team until further notice. Please make arrangements with the training department to turn in your SWAT issued rifle.
The memo went on to say that their actions were discovered through social media, and it somehow made the city look bad.
“It was discovered that there were several social media posts that were posted on the City of Miramar websites. These posts were found to have a direct connection to you and the incident that occurred within the city of Parkland. These posts were found to have a negative connotation to our city and the Miramar police department. The indirect dissemination of information regarding crimes or incidents is a violation of the department’s social media policy,” the memo stated.
A Miramar PD spokesperson said that they were not suspended for responding, but for not going through the proper protocol.
“Miramar PD had numerous officers and a victim advocate respond, without incident. The two SWAT officers temporarily suspended from the SWAT team, but not active duty, were not suspended for responding, but for NOT advising that they responded. They did not advise prior to self-dispatching, during the incident, nor immediately following. This is an officer safety issue, a violation of policy and goes against incident command training and the best practices learned from other mass casualty/shooting incidents,” the spokesperson said.
Broward County PBA President Jeff Marano commended the officers despite their suspension.
“While it may have been a violation of policy to not notify their supervisors that they were going there, their intentions were brave and heroic, I think,” Marano said.
As TFTP reported, all first responders were told to stand down and not enter the school. Some of them have spoken out, noting that they “could’ve saved lives” if they were allowed to go inside the school. Instead, children were left bleeding out instead of receiving the care they so desperately needed that could’ve saved them.
John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. John just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through his experience, if you wish to contribute to his treatments consider subscribing to his podcast to support. This article first appeared at The Free Thought Project.
The cowards of Browards one and all.
Seems to me that all law enforcement officials from the city and county should be fired and find some decent human beings to take their place.
Those officers should watch their backs.