Many have blasted the deputy in south Florida for refusing to enter the school while children died. I agree with them. However, in the interest of intellectual honesty, this story certainly explains why you wouldn’t want to.
The officer involved was shot in the head during the Pulse nightclub incident. Even though his helmet prevented the bullet from killing him, he did receive a closed head injury that has prevented him from returning to work. The Orlando police department has a rule that officers must return to work within a certain amount of time after being injured in the line of duty. If they do not, they must be examined by a doctor of Orlando PD’s choosing to qualify for a medical pension, or they will be fired. OPD does not have a doctor that can do the exam, so this officer will be terminated on September 30.
Now picture that you are a cop who is standing outside of a shooting incident, and you know that you could be killed or injured. You also know that your family would not be cared for if anything happened to you. Many people are willing to risk their own health and well being, but not those of their wife and children. Do you think that this is more or less likely to make you want to enter the building and risk it all for a public that will likely weasel out of their responsibility to you and your family?
Before you say that this is what cops sign up for, remember that the small risk of being hurt on traffic stops is different from charging an enemy in an entrenched position while under direct fire. That is more like combat than police work. Even worse, since combat troops have tools at their disposal (grenades, suppressive fire, air support, etc.) that police do not. On top of this, many insurance companies will not pay out if you are killed in a terrorist incident. You better believe that a cop’s insurance company is going to look for ways not to pay up, in a situation like this.




