29 Facts About Scott Israel

Scott Israel is an American law enforcement officer in Florida, and the former Broward County Sheriff.

Scott Israel later served as the 16th Sheriff of the 6,000-member Sheriff's Office in Broward County, Florida, from 2013 until 2019.

Scott Israel has been outspoken regarding gun violence and gun control, and opposed open carry legislation.

Scott Israel called for a ban on assault rifles to be reinstated, and said that he does not believe that people with mental illness should have access to firearms.

Scott Israel's views made him a target of conservatives across the nation, in part due to his criticism of the National Rifle Association, and what he considers to be lax gun laws.

Scott Israel was born in New York, raised in the Bronx and in Baldwin, Long Island, and is Jewish.

Scott Israel's father Maurice "Sonny" Israel fought in the Korean War as a US Marines sergeant, and was a New York City homicide detective and a Palm Beach Sheriff's Office deputy with a combined 44 years of service.

Scott Israel earned his bachelor's degree in political science and government at SUNY Cortland, and played quarterback in college football there.

Scott Israel then took a course of study at the FBI National Academy.

Scott Israel became a patrol officer for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in 1979.

Scott Israel later worked undercover in narcotics, and served as a SWAT team commander, before retiring from the department as a captain in 2004.

From 2004 to 2008, Scott Israel was the chief of police in North Bay Village, Florida.

Scott Israel was named Police Chief of the Year in Miami Dade County.

Scott Israel resigned that position in 2008 to run for Sheriff as the Democratic nominee, but narrowly lost the general election to the incumbent Republican sheriff whose campaign outspent his by approximately $200,000.

Scott Israel was the first Jewish sheriff in Broward County history, and the second in Florida's history.

In May 2015, Scott Israel said that he was concerned with the nationwide increase in shootings of unarmed men, and that he had told his deputies that if any of them shot an unarmed suspect, they would have to answer to him.

That same year, Scott Israel began to implement a plan for all 1,500 uniformed deputies to wear body cameras, a program which was fully implemented by the end of 2016.

Scott Israel increased diversity among BSO personnel, increasing the percentage of Asian, Hispanic, and African-American deputies; and stressed the concept of community policing.

Scott Israel expanded the use of juvenile civil citations, making their issuance mandatory to all eligible youth, in order to help keep juveniles out of the criminal justice system and give them second chances.

Scott Israel is known for being outspoken regarding gun violence and gun control, and opposed open carry legislation.

Scott Israel murdered 17 people, and injured 17 others, shooting 140 rounds in less than six minutes.

Scott Israel said his agency had received 23 calls involving the killer in some way, shape, or form over the prior several years, as well as calls relating to his brother.

On November 12,2018, at the high school's Public Safety Commission's monthly meeting investigating the shooting, Scott Israel admitted that he had changed the sheriff's policy on active shooters, changing one word in a critical sentence about deputies engaging active shooters from "shall" go in after the shooter, to "may" go in after the shooter.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a commissioner on the panel, admonished Scott Israel, saying "Words matter, and according to your policy, he did not have to go in".

On January 11,2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had as a candidate for governor twice said that he would have suspended Scott Israel were he governor, followed up on his campaign promise three days after being sworn into office, ousting Scott Israel and replacing him with former Coral Springs police Sgt.

Anthony Marciano, president of the Federation of Public Employees union, representing deputies, said Scott Israel unnecessarily "poked a big bear that he didn't need to poke" when he addressed the NRA, but that Scott Israel's fate would have better been left to voters.

Scott Israel found that the removal of Israel by the governor had been improper, and recommended that Israel be reinstated.

Scott Israel raised $600,000 for his campaign, while Tony raised $1.5million for the primary.

In June 2022, Scott Israel became the Police Chief of Opa-Locka, Florida, in Miami-Dade County.