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Former sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson did not confront the Parkland school shooting which claimed 17 lives. Should he be jailed? (www.bbc.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A Florida jury is currently deliberating whether Scot Peterson, 60, is guilty of 11 counts that include felony child neglect and culpable negligence. He has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Peterson's case has added a legal and moral dimension to a fraught national debate over law enforcement's responsibility to protect students during school shootings, which are a common occurrence in the United States.

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[–] kabe 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I watched a fair bit of the trial and it's not really fair to say that Peterson just "hid in an alcove".

There were various factors that meant that he couldn't get an exact location of where the shooter was, so he hesitated and spent a good deal of time trying to decide where to go. Should he have just taken his best guess and gone to that location, even if that meant potentially going to the wrong place? In hindsight, probably. But that doesn't mean that he was criminally negligent to not do so.

This is a 60-year-old guy who is out of shape and possibly not the brightest bulb in the box. Are there other officers who would have done a better job? Absolutely. But is failing to get a hold on the situation quickly enough and take decisive action a crime? The jury were not convinced by the prosecution that it is.