We will be posting news about the trial on our Twitter account, please follow and join our Facebook Group for the discussion.
Every Security Officer and Law Enforcement Officer that is assigned to protect people, should be riveted to this criminal trial taking place in Florida right now. This is a landmark case that will have a far-reaching impact on private and public officers that accept the responsibility of protecting people.
And the show has just begun.
The prosecution contends that Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson, was criminally negligent in failing to confront the Parkland, Florida shooter, Nicholas Cruz, during his 17 person killing spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School on February 14/2018. Peterson’s defense attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, was interviewed by The Law & Crime Network’s Jesse Weber before the trial to shed some light on the defense he will present in the trial that is currently underway.
The purpose for this interview? Well, we can only assume that he is doing his best to get a fair trial for his client and right now his client has been tried and condemned by the international court of public option. But the actual legal trial is just beginning so he is presenting some of his case to make the point that there may be another side to the story a few seconds of video blasted around the internet didn’t show us.
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, as is the case with every tragic event, the finger pointing began with a vengeance in the hunt for someone to blame this on. Of course guns and specifically black rifles were the main culprit. The family of the shooter and the shooters upbringing was folded into the fury. But when video of the on-duty school resource officer surfaced, and we saw a uniform deputy moving about the campus, without a gun drawn, that appeared not to enter the building to confront the shooter, the world had it’s scape goat. No investigation, no interviews, no evidence – beyond the video of course, and no trial, yet most of the world knew exactly what had happened and who was to blame.
Looking through the eyes of a former law enforcement officer and SWAT operator, and now security professional that is trained in active shooter response, I will admit that the video clips I saw did not show Deputy Scot Peterson in a favorable light. He didn’t storm the building guns a blazing, and he didn’t kill the shooter and stop the slaughter of 17 innocent victims, most of them children. But my experience has taught me that a few seconds of video do not, by any means, provide a full and comprehensive analysis of what happened that day and why.
A fundamental legal principle in our country is the presumption of innocence wherein every person accused of a crime is considered to be innocent until proven guilty, and that proven guilty part does not mean proven by the mainstream or social media or any other platform, it means proven guilty in a court of law.
If, or when it’s you or someone you care about in the hot seat, you may find comfort in this legal principle and be outraged by those that feel it’s unnecessary to waste time and money on a trial, since they watched a few seconds of a video clip, and wish to circumvent the process and go straight to the execution part with out any pesky trials.
I am not advocating for anyone here, I am advocating for due process. We are a country of laws and those laws, when enforced, help to maintain a somewhat civilized society.
If you are a professional protector of others, then you want to pay attention to what happens during this trial as this trial will illuminate responsibility, culpability, and liability and it should make you think twice about policies, procedures, and how well you are trained for your position before you accept that position or responsibility.
We will be posting news about the trial on our Twitter account, please follow and join our Facebook Group for the discussion.
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