Upset with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, members of a union of rank-and-file deputies will vote electronically over the next week on whether they have faith in his leadership.
The so-called “no confidence” vote is a first for the office, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
“A law enforcement union at the Broward Sheriff’s Office has never done this before,” said Jeff Bell, president of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, which scheduled the vote.
The organization represents 1,050 members and its contract covers 1,300 deputies and sergeants. The vote, which was scheduled to begin last Friday, is open to all of them and will last until Thursday, April 26.
The catalyst for the public show of displeasure was the Parkland school shooting Feb. 14, where a former student opened fire with an assault-style rifle in the freshman building of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, killing 17.
Bell said Israel has refused to take responsibility for the disastrous performance at the school, where several deputies stayed outside or took cover behind cars, unsure of where the gunfire was coming from. “The sheriff still blames one person,” Bell said, referring to former school resource officer Scot Peterson. “As an agency we’ve not taken any responsibility for this.”
Israel, a Democrat, was overwhelmingly reelected in 2016. He’s not slated to face voters again until 2020.
