Former Broward Sheriff Scott Israel resigning as Opa-locka police chief

Scott Israel, the former Broward County Sheriff who Gov. Ron DeSantis removed from office after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High mass shooting, is resigning from his current post as the police chief in Opa-locka, the city said in a news release.

Israel became the chief of the predominantly Black city in Miami-Dade County in May 2022, after unsuccessfully fighting to remain the Broward Sheriff and losing the 2020 election to Sheriff Gregory Tony. In May 2021, Davie hired Israel to review red-light camera footage as a traffic infraction enforcement officer.

DeSantis removed Israel from office in January 2019, saying at a news conference at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters that “the massacre might never have happened had Broward had better leadership in the sheriff’s department.” The newly elected governor’s executive order removing the sheriff cited failures of Israel and his deputies reported by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission and the 2017 shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport where five people were killed — placing blame on Israel’s leadership and training in both shootings.

Israel told CBS Miami in an interview last month that his suspension “was a sham” and “political nonsense.”

The announcement of Israel’s resignation comes as the trial of former Broward Deputy Scot Peterson gets underway. Peterson is charged with child neglect stemming from the murders of Stoneman Douglas students Cara Loughran, Joaquin Oliver, Jaime Guttenberg and Peter Wang and the injurings of three others. He is also charged with negligence stemming from the murders of Scott Biegel and student Meadow Pollack and the injuring of teacher Stacey Lippel.

DeSantis, in the same executive order suspending Israel, said Peterson “consciously” chose not to confront the shooter at the Parkland school as he actively killed and attempted to kill students and teachers. Peterson has argued that he could not tell where the shots were coming from.

Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein on Thursday denied a request from Peterson’s defense team for jurors to tour the outside of the 1200 building where 17 students and teachers were murdered inside. The judge also denied a request from prosecutors for jurors to walk inside of the building.

Opa-locka officials said Thursday evening that Israel and Interim City Manager Darvin Williams will announce his resignation at a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday in the City Commission Chamber at the Opa-locka Municipal Complex.