DeSantis may not suspend Sheriff Israel afterall

When Governor-elect Ron DeSantis (R) was campaigning to be Florida’s next governor, the former U.S. Congressman stated on several occasions, that he would remove or suspend embattled Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel for his department’s response to the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that left 17 students and teachers dead.

Now with less than a week before he takes the oath of office, DeSantis is not talking as tough about Israel as he was in 2018. DeSantis is not saying that he is considering suspending Israel, but would be making a “number of personnel changes.”

After a recently released 458- page report by a state commission looking into the shooting, the group did not recommend Israel be suspended or fired.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, DeSantis can “suspend officials for a variety of reasons, including neglect of duty, incompetence and malfeasance. Typically, governors have suspended officials who have been charged criminally. Israel could request a trial before the Florida Senate to contest his suspension.”

DeSantis has also said that he would like to see Broward County School Board Superintendent Robert Runcie fired, but that decision is ultimately up to the school board itself, which has rallied behind its board members and Runcie.

In other words, a Runcie firing does not look likely.