In an overwhelming vote, the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association announced it has “no confidence” in Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and is going to ask Florida Governor Rick Scott to remove him from office over his handling of the Parkland shooting.
Out of the 628 officers in the union, 534 voted that they had no confidence in Sheriff Israel. Union President Jeff Bell said that it was the “union’s first vote of no confidence against a sheriff.”
WPBF Investigative reporter Terri Parker noted that the union said Sheriff Israel was a liar, deputies were demoralized and the police force was understaffed.
In response to the vote, Israel claimed that Bell was trying to “use the Parkland tragedy as a bargaining tactic to extort a 6.5 percent raise.”
Bell responded by telling the newspaper, “Amazing leadership starts from the top, and there is no amazing leadership here. We are a ship out at sea with no power — adrift,” adding that “members have displayed great courage to come out and vote under threat of retaliation and reprisal from the sheriff.”
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