A Florida law enforcement panel has voted unanimously to strip the accreditation of the Broward Sheriff's Office, the state's largest sheriff's department, citing the shooting deaths in Parkland last year and at a major airport in 2017.
In its 13-0 vote last week, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA) cited BSO's mishandling of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Feb. 14, 2018, and the attack at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 6, 2017.
The commission's decision, reported Monday by the Miami Herald, does not affect BSO's operations in a major way. The designation is a voluntary certification sought by law enforcement agencies.
The Broward Sheriff's Office first received state accreditation in 2001.
The panel includes sheriffs, police chiefs, and other top law enforcement officials from across Florida.
Seventeen people were killed and as many were injured in the Stoneman Douglas shooting — and five people were shot to death in the airport attack.
"Both incidents were marked by chaotic and disorganized responses from the sheriff's office," the Herald reports — and Democratic BSO Sheriff Scott Israel defended his agency's response each time.
However, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Israel in January following a state-appointed investigation of the Stoneman incident. Israel is fighting the governor's decision.
In addition, Jan Jordan, the BSO captain in charge of the response to the Stoneman Douglas shooting, resigned.
Four deputies were also fired, including school resource officer Scot Peterson, who did not go into the building during the attack by former student Nikolas Cruz.
Peterson has since been charged in the attack.
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