Ten Months After Parkland, Broward Sheriff's Office Plans To Change Active Shooter Policy

WLRN Public Media | By Nick Nehamas

Published December 24, 2018 at 9:07 AM EST

This Feb. 14, 2018 frame from security video provided by the Broward County Sheriff's Office shows deputy Scot Peterson, right, outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Ten months after the Parkland school shooting — and dogged by criticism of deputies who failed to immediately enter the building where a gunman killed 17 people — the Broward Sheriff’s Office plans to change the instructions it gives to deputies responding to an active shooting, according to an internal memo obtained by the Miami Herald.

The biggest change under the new policy: Deputies are now told they “shall” — rather than “may” — attempt to enter the scene of the shooting in order to stop the killer and save lives. The language of the previous policy was criticized by a state public safety commission, which included parents of students slain in Florida’s worst school shooting.

In a draft report of its conclusions released earlier this month, the commission wrote: “The use of the word ‘may’ in the BSO policy is ambiguous and does not unequivocally convey the expectation that deputies are expected to immediately enter an active assailant scene where gunfire is active and neutralize the threat.”

Read more from our news partner, The Miami Herald.