Suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has come under fire for his leadership – or lack thereof – during the shooting in Parkland, Florida last year. It was revealed that Israel's team showed up at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School but failed to go into the school while the gunman opened fire. When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took office at the beginning of the year, he suspended Israel. The Sheriff said he's fight to get his job back one way or another.
Now it looks as though he's cashing in on that promise. Israel may have another top law enforcement position, this time as the Police Chief in Opa-locka.
According to the Miami Herald, the move is unsurprising:
He’s also hedging his bets: In a power play of his own one county south, Israel has emerged as one commissioner’s favorite candidate for police chief in Opa-locka.
It’s a would-be marriage that links Broward’s most controversial politician with Miami-Dade’s most chaotic and dysfunctional city. And it has politicians and observers on both sides of the county line reaching for the popcorn.
National Rifle Association Spokeswoman Dana Loesch made it known she thought Israel was capitalizing on corruption taking place in Opa-locka.
. @ScottJIsrael is job shopping and hoping to capitalize on the corruption in Opa-locka to get another top cop appointment. Unreal. https://t.co/logYo0Zs2l
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 8, 2019
If this isn't the definition of corruption then I don't know what is.
Israel continually blamed the NRA for his firing, saying the NRA controls Gov. DeSantis. He couldn't accept that, under his leadership, his deputies failed to act in order to protect innocent children during a school shooting. Part of being the big man at the top, the guy in charge, is answering for these types of failures. It'd be different if it was one lone deputy who failed to act but it wasn't. It was practically every deputy who shopped up on scene.
The real heroes on that tragic day were Assistant Football Coach and security guard Aaron Feis who shielded students from the gunman; Athletic Director and Wrestling Coach Chris Hixon who attempted to aid students during the attack; and Peter Wang who held the door open so his classmates could escape.