OPINION:
In the aftermath of the Florida school shooting, none of the diatribes about the evil of guns has elicited sensible discussion about or investigation into real preventive measures. Many of the students are now being driven by the media to support its own agenda of gun control without acknowledgment of the failures of law enforcement and the Broward County school district.
Broward County Public Schools has an agreement with law enforcement to stop arresting so many of its students for crimes in order to shed a more favorable light on the schools and increase students’ chances of graduation. This, in turn, makes the community look good. The agreement has led to gangs using students to commit their crimes. Now, perhaps, we know why all the calls to law enforcement about the previous criminal actions of Nikolas Cruz fell on deaf ears.
It is a disgrace to allow crimes by students in order to project the image of a law-abiding student community. And allowing the graduation of student who don’t deserve to graduate does a disservice to those who do.
Sorry to say, all the noise about gun control is drowning out the fact that this terrible incident could have been prevented. Sure, law enforcement was derelict in their duty, but if this agreement had not been in place it seems only logical that Mr. Cruz would have been in jail or banned from purchasing a gun.
DAVE DAHLKE
Port Orchard, Wash.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.