It’s state of the art, it has a $73 million price tag, and it was inspired by the poor law enforcement response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy of 2018.
On Thursday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office officially opened its Research, Development and Training Center, designed to improve first responder performance.
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“It’s not hyperbole, every second counts for victims, students and teachers, who are in the line of fire in these incidents, and that, I’m sure, will be pressed home, and we’re pleased to see our loved ones are remembered in the lobby,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand With Parkland and the father of Gina Montalto, who was among the 17 murdered at MSD High School.
The lobby of the building is dedicated to the victims. Their names are mounted on the wall.
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“We don’t feel comfortable having Joaquin Oliver’s name in this memorial,” said his father, Manuel Oliver, directly to Sheriff Gregory Tony.
Some of the Parkland victim families, including Oliver and his wife, Patricia Oliver, say they can’t approach closure until the only agency that has never accepted responsibility for the tragedy, BSO, settles a lawsuit they filed against the organization.
“I’m looking at you in your eye and telling you, alright?” Tony said to Patricia Oliver. “If there’s something I can do to move this and be done with it, you’ll have it done.”
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“It’s just about showing that initial respect, you cannot jump that step and pretend that we’re cool, we’re not cool, we’re not good, this is not a good relationship, you failed that day and my son is not here,” Manuel Oliver said.
“I think the families are spot on, that’s not the first time I heard it, I’ve had communications with many of the members and they’re very frustrated by the fact that closing this case out, or the last chapter for them, is tied up in a legal proceeding that as a sheriff I can’t control,” Tony responded.
He was not the sheriff when the Parkland massacre occurred. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Tony to the job after he removed former Sheriff Scott Israel in the wake of the failures on that day. Nonetheless, Tony has apologized to the victims several times for BSO’s performance. Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony was marked by the presence of the Olivers, Tony and Jennifer Montalto, Gena Hoyer, who lost her son, Luke; and Hunter Pollack, whose sister, Meadow, was among those killed inside the high school.
“For them to be here and be present with the organization that had shortcomings on that horrible day, we welcome them, to just come here and sit amongst us, we know this isn’t something that’s easy, but it’s because of that tragedy that this building is now standing,” Tony said to the assembled crowd.
Inside the lobby, the names are on the wall, and there are six lines on the floor to symbolize six minutes. That’s the amount of time the shooter rampaged through the school without being confronted by deputies.
I asked Hunter Pollack if he thought the memorial would inspire the officers who train there.
“A hundred percent, when an officer shows up to the work, they’re gonna remember why they chose to become a police officer, to serve and protect, and that day they failed to do so,” Pollack said.
The new facility was originally envisioned to cost about $34 million, but the current tab is about $73 million. A preliminary county audit shows the building has $9.5 million in cost overruns, but BSO says that is not accurate. They say the county ordered changes and upgrades in the construction process which ran up the bill, but the final audit, BSO says, will have different numbers.
