A new report is claiming that the sheriff of Broward County in Florida is being criticized for hiring of political supporters.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, Sheriff Scott Israel has hired 10 workers to “community outreach” roles since 2013 to gloat about the sheriff office’s success. The sum of their salaries add up to $634,479.
The report also states that Israel also hired “former colleagues from Fort Lauderdale Police Department” to key positions in the office.
Israel’s political opponents have argued that Israel’s community outreach hires amount to utilizing the office as part of his campaign and diverts money from essential law enforcement resources. They also argue that his hiring of former colleagues is a sign of favoritism that discourages employees that aren’t in his inner circle.
When confronted on these hires, Israel brushed off the criticism.
“What have I done differently than Don Shula or Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Ghandi?” Israel told the Sun-Sentinel. “Men and women who assume leadership roles surround themselves with people who are loyal, who they can depend on and who they appreciate their skill set.”
Israel also claimed that people were only leveling criticism at him because of how successful his office has been.
“Lions don’t care about the opinions of sheep,” Israel snarked with the Games of Thrones reference.
The report comes amidst questions about the Broward County Sheriff’s office after the school resource officer at Majorie Stoneman Douglas, Scot Peterson, resigned from doing nothing at the shooting. It was also recently reported that the officer didn’t provide investigators with any information about the shooter when they approached him in 2016. Three other officers from the sheriff’s office were also on the campus during the shooting, but did nothing.
Additionally, police officers from neighboring Coral Springs were the first arrive to on the scene of the shooting, not the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, something that the office reportedly didn’t acknowledge:
Coral Springs Police Chief Anthony Pustizzi sent out this email to his staff on Feb 16 because, per source, some officers under his command were upset that Broward Sheriff’s Office wasn’t acknowledging that Coral Springs Police were first to charge into MSD High School: pic.twitter.com/G3DcbB3lwB
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 23, 2018
Reason’s Robby Soave wrote, “Given the appalling failures that took place at Israel’s office, the “sheep” might like the “lion” some questions. Perhaps he could answer them in a less condescending and authoritarian fashion.”
