MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL MASS SHOOTING PARKLAND, FLORIDA
The Initial Response, Investigation, and Prosecution Perspectives from One of the Lead Investigators
Course Description:
On February 14th, 2018, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen victims were shot and killed, 14 high school students and 3 school employees, and seventeen other victims were shot and injured because of one shooter’s rampage. This horrific event changed the perspective of active killer response for law enforcement agencies and the evaluation of threat management on a global level. It also served as the catalyst for new legislation on both a state and national level. While some training exists that discusses the various strategies in how an agency and their personnel should initially respond to an active shooter incident, there is unfortunately almost no training provided to law enforcement regarding the actual investigation itself of a mass shooting. The number of additional things that an investigative team must take into consideration and have plans to address on a mass shooting incident are almost endless, not to mention the complicated task of accurately coordinating the activities of dozens or possibly hundreds of personnel. This class will provide the participants with guidance on how to address those issues based upon the real-life experiences of being at this scene from day one all the way through the completion of the sentencing phase of the trial for the killer. The investigative decisions that are made in the immediate aftermath, as well as in the days and weeks that follow a mass shooting tragedy, will have a profound impact on the ultimate success of the investigation, the prosecution of the suspect(s) and the image of the agency responsible for all things associated with a high-profile case like this.
The Lead Instructor for this 8-hour training course is Zack Scott. At the time of this incident, Zack was a detective assigned to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit. He was ultimately selected and assigned to be the Co-Lead Detective on this mass shooting, multiple homicide case which would have the eyes of the world looking in and scrutinizing every decision made. Participants attending this training course will be given a real-life, frontline perspective of this event as it unfolded in real time. There will be several facts, pieces of evidence and interesting hurdles that had to be overcome that were associated with this case that will be shared with the participants. There will also be details and information provided to the participants that have never been released to the general public. Zack will also provide the participants with specific details about the subsequent investigation that was conducted into the killer’s actions as well as the catastrophic failures that occurred leading up to and during the incident. The challenges of completing internal and external investigations and attempting to maintain the integrity of the case against the public outcry for answers will be discussed. The political distractions that arose from inter-departmental fighting to questionable choices that were made in the name of damage control will also be explored and analyzed. Participants will get an “inside look” as to what it was like on a daily basis dealing with all of the background noise that was being generated both internally from fellow colleagues and externally from the general public and the media when you are assigned to investigate a high-profile case like this one.
Participants will be provided with the plans that were discussed and eventually implemented regarding the preparation for a nationally anticipated and televised trial. These plans will outline the extremely uncommon circumstance of the suspect actually surviving the incident and being taken into custody. The legal hurdles and roadblocks that occurred for several years after the investigation was conducted will put a spotlight on the decisions that were made in the moment and the ramifications of those decisions will be discussed. The never-ending media frenzy that will automatically come with a high-profile case and the best practices in how to deal with the media will be discussed. It should be noted that this class will be taught from an incredibly open and honest perspective. Zack will explain in detail some of the really good decisions that were made during the course of this investigation and prosecution. However, having the benefit of hindsight being 20/20, Zack will also discuss in great detail some of the decisions that were made that he would definitely change or do differently if he could go back in time.
Perhaps most importantly, participants will be made aware of the long-term effects that participating in an investigation of this scale will have on the investigators and all of the additional personnel who are exposed to a case of this magnitude. During this training class, participants will receive a first-hand perspective of how the law enforcement culture generally approaches critical incident debriefings and why openly discussing without shame the availability and necessity of long-term mental health assistance can play such a critical role for the personnel associated with this type of an event. Members of Command Staff are highly encouraged to attend this training class because we will be discussing the important leadership lessons that were learned from this incident. We will discuss in detail both the successes and the failures and the ripple effects that they have on not only an agency, but a community as well.
This course will give all participants the rarely seen inside perspective of one of the most tragic mass shootings to occur in our nation’s history. The class will also provide its participants with the harsh reality that any community in any state could be facing this same type of tragedy tomorrow. By learning from where this investigation both succeeded and failed, participants ranging from first responding patrol officers to investigators to middle management supervisors to command staff members can all leave this training better prepared to investigate and manage these types of critical incidents in the future.
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this one-day training course, participants will have a working knowledge of the investigative process utilized following the MSD Mass shooting. Through the exploration of this event from a real-world perspective, provided by one of the lead investigators of the case, participants will obtain the lessons learned from investigating a high-profile and complex investigation. Participants will be given information related to the other factors that arose during the investigation, including internal and external investigations that were launched due to personnel failures during the event. Perspectives involving the judicial process will be discussed, giving participants insights into the legal steps towards prosecution in this case and the conclusion of the trial proceedings. Additional subjects such as forensics, event reunification, leadership, media strategies, and mental health resources will be presented, allowing the participants to understand the complexities of a large-scale event and the necessary steps that must be taken to manage them.
Who Should Attend:
Road Patrol Officers, Detectives, Supervisors, Command Staff Personnel, Internal Affairs Investigators, Prosecutors, Investigators working for a State/District Attorney’s Office, Investigators from a Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office, Investigators from Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Investigators from the U.S. Armed Forces, Police Legal Advisors, and Crime Analysts
Requirements to Attend:
To attend this class, you must be currently employed as one of the below-listed descriptions:
1. A sworn law enforcement officer
2. A sworn reserve law enforcement officer
3. A civilian assigned to a crime scene unit or traffic unit at a L.E. Agency
4. A prosecutor working for a State Attorney/District Attorney’s Office
5. An Investigator working for a State Attorney’s Office
6. A Doctor working at a Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office
7. An Investigator at a Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office
8. Active Duty or Reserve Military Personnel who are responsible for investigating or supervising or prosecuting criminal cases in the U.S. Armed Forces. This would include investigators from the U.S. Armed Services, Judge Advocate Generals (JAG), Etc.
9. Police Legal Advisor
10. Crime Analysts
Fees:
$195 per student – Law Enforcement Agencies who host one of our training classes will automatically receive two free admissions to attend the class.
Dress:
Students attending our training classes should follow their department or agency Policies and Procedures Manual guidelines regarding authorized clothing and uniforms to wear while attending approved training classes. If law enforcement personnel choose to wear civilian clothing to our training classes and they plan on being armed, we would respectfully request that you either keep your firearm concealed or if your firearm is exposed, please have your agency ID and/or a badge clearly visible at all times identifying you as law enforcement officer.
How to Register:
To register for a course, please click on the “Register Now” box and follow the instructions and prompts. If you have any questions, send us an email to info@svpolicetraining.com. We respect and are truly committed to our fellow colleagues in this profession who are seeking this advanced and specialized training so you can expect a prompt response from us to your emails.
At Semper Veritas Police Training and Consulting, LLC., we take immense pride in doing everything that we can to give back to this noble profession that we have dedicated so much of our lives to and to help the next generation of brave warriors willing to do this heroic work so that their learning curve is much faster than ours was.