One thing has been clear since the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The school district AND the Broward County Sheriff’s department failed to protect the students, staff, and community. Yet somehow, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has kept his job. Now, however, he is done. FINALLY.

Earlier in the day news reports came that Israel’s job security was tenuous at best. 

Embattled Broward Sheriff Scott Israel told members of his command staff Tuesday that he expects Florida’s new governor to suspend him, sources say.

Israel reached the conclusion based on what people in Tallahassee told him, one source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The sheriff expects to be suspended “as soon as this week,” the source said.

First of all, I have no sympathy for Scott Israel. Secondly, he along with Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie, were the fools who brought the politically correct and horribly dangerous PROMISE program to town. They are the ones along with others who set the ball in motion that led to the tragedy at Parkland nearly 12 months ago.

I leave it up to @RonDeSantisFL to determine if Israel’s reputation of incompetency deserves outright removal from office. The MSD Commission’s report was pretty damning.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 8, 2019

People, most especially many of the survivors and the families of the victims, have wanted him gone from the beginning. His behavior at the CNN town hall was atrocious on all levels.

Yeah, that is the same guy who bragged to CNN in a different interview that he showed “amazing leadership.”

As the Sun-Sentinel report, Real Clear Investigations, and the School Commission report have now shown…there was exactly ZERO leadership within the Sheriff’s department. Which led to failures of response on all levels. 

Eight deputies did not immediately rush into the school to confront the gunman after hearing gunshots. Commanders did not take control of the scene. And Israel said he changed the agency’s policy on active shooters to say deputies “may” rather than “shall” go after a shooter.

Deputy Scott Peterson failed to respond and also helped cover up some very troubling acts of assault by Israel’s son, Brett.

Other deputies adopted the mantra of ‘may engage’ rather than follow the training that was adopted after Columbine which was – GO TO THE SOURCE and start clearing the building instead of hiding outside

A grand total of 60+ calls for help from the shooter and the shooter’s family were essentially swept under the rug

58 minutes of chaos and lives lost because of the lack of leadership from the Sheriff.

Broward County Sheriff policy of turning felony acts by juveniles into a pat on the wrist has further endangered the entire community

So, it was no surprise to hear that FINALLY someone decided to hold Scott Israel accountable. His own department held a no confidence vote on Israel and the Sun-Sentinel, which had supported Israel through much of the year, rescinded their support after reading the damning Commission report.

We applaud the @SunSentinel for recommending Sheriff Israel is fired. With Broward being the 2nd largest county in Florida, our citizens deserve much better. https://t.co/4lf2Rs2GMa

— Hunter Pollack (@PollackHunter) December 27, 2018

Of course, there are also indications that Israel will fight his suspension because it would be politically motivated. *eyeroll

Florida’s governor can suspend a sheriff — as well as other public officials — for a number of reasons, including criminal activity, neglect of duty and incompetence. But should that happen, Israel will request a trial before the Florida Senate to fight it, his lawyer said.

The entire department needs an overhaul. But getting Scott Israel out of there is a good and welcome start.

UPDATE: Maybe not.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on Tuesday denied that the governor officially suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, following reports of the sheriff’s imminent removal.

A spokesperson for DeSantis told Fox News that no one from the governor’s team has had any contact with Israel or his attorneys and have not communicated to him that he’ll soon be suspended.

Separately, in a statement to Fox News, Israel’s attorney Stuart Kaplan said that they “have received no official word from the Governor or his office on any position with respect to the removal or suspension of the Sheriff.”

Quite honestly, the entire county would benefit if Israel leaves, but now, with these conflicting reports we’ll have to wait and see.

Feature Photo Credit: Michael Laughlin Sun Sentinel, cropped and modified