Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1450
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       23-01782-19                                           20191450__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the pension of retired Deputy Scot
    3         Peterson; declaring that Deputy Scot Peterson, retired
    4         from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, shall
    5         forfeit all rights and benefits under the Florida
    6         Retirement System due to his wanton or willful neglect
    7         in the performance of his assigned duties and
    8         contravention of his oath of office; providing an
    9         effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, on February 14, 2018, Deputy Scot Peterson of the
   12  Broward County Sheriff’s Office was the only school resource
   13  officer assigned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and
   14         WHEREAS, according to the initial report of the Marjory
   15  Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, the
   16  Broward County Sheriff’s Office had trained Deputy Peterson on
   17  active shooter response, he was familiar with solo-deputy
   18  response protocols, and he knew that the appropriate response to
   19  an active shooter was to seek out the shooter and not
   20  “containment,” and
   21         WHEREAS, according to the commission report, Deputy
   22  Peterson knew that an active shooter situation called for a Code
   23  Red response and that, based on the commission’s interviews
   24  conducted with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School personnel,
   25  during the shooting on February 14, 2018, Deputy Peterson never
   26  called a Code Red over the school radio, and
   27         WHEREAS, the commission report found that Deputy Scot
   28  Peterson was derelict in his duty on February 14, 2018, failed
   29  to act consistently with his training, and fled to a position of
   30  personal safety while the gunman shot and killed Marjory
   31  Stoneman Douglas High School students and staff, and
   32         WHEREAS, Deputy Scot Peterson was in a position to engage
   33  the gunman and mitigate further harm to others, and he willfully
   34  decided not to do so, and
   35         WHEREAS, there was overwhelming evidence identified in the
   36  commission report that Deputy Scot Peterson knew that the
   37  gunshots were coming from within the immediate area of building
   38  12, but there is no evidence to suggest that Peterson attempted
   39  to investigate the source of the gunshots, and
   40         WHEREAS, the commission report found that on February 14,
   41  2018, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office’s response to Marjory
   42  Stoneman Douglas High School was hindered in part by Deputy Scot
   43  Peterson’s erroneous directions and other incorrect information
   44  he relayed over the office’s main radio channel, and
   45         WHEREAS, there is ample evidence that Deputy Scot Peterson
   46  has contravened his oath of office as set forth in Article II,
   47  section 5 of the Florida Constitution, to “faithfully perform
   48  the duties” of a deputy sheriff of Broward County, Florida, and
   49         WHEREAS, Scot Peterson is guilty of wanton or willful
   50  neglect in the performance of his assigned duties on February
   51  14, 2018, NOW, THEREFORE,
   52  
   53  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   54  
   55         Section 1. Scot Peterson shall forfeit all rights and
   56  benefits under chapter 121, Florida Statutes, except the return
   57  of any accumulated contributions, as of the effective date of
   58  this act.
   59         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.