NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — Ten members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office could soon lose their jobs following an internal affairs investigation into authorities’ response to a killing spree that rocked a Tamarac community, 7News has learned.
According to the president of the Broward Deputy Sheriffs Association, a policy board within BSO has recommended the terminations of 10 deputies, detectives and sergeants. This recommendation trggers the process that will ultimately decide whether or not these 10 employees will be terminated.
The professional standards board also recommended nine others to be suspended.
The decision comes after, investigators said, 43-year-old Nathan Gingles shot and killed his estranged wife, her father and their neighbor along the 5700 block of Plum Bay Parkway, back on Feb. 16.
Detectives said the suspect burst into Mary’s home and gunned down her father, David Ponzer, as the couple’s 4-year-old daughter Seraphine followed behind.
Deputies said Nathan followed Mary into the home of her neighbor, Andrew Ferrin, and killed them both.
Authorities said Nathan walked down the street, taking Seraphine to a nearby Walmart. He was captured soon afterward.
Prior to the massacre, Gingles’ wife, Mary Catherine Gingles, had filed a restraining order against her husband and made more than a dozen phone calls to BSO complaining about Nathan and fearing for her life.
“He was stalking her to kill her and had a plan to kill her. She revealed that to the police department; they did nothing!” said Frank Ponzer, Mary’s uncle, during a phone interview.
In a news conference, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said his deputies and his department had fallen short.
“This death is on my watch, it’s on my watch. I’m the sheriff of this county, I’m responsible,” said Tony.
Nathan, a U.S. Army veteran, faces multiple charges, including kidnapping and murder.
The fallout since the incident has been ongoing, with at least 15 deputies disciplined in some way, and now former Tamarac Capt. Jeremiah Cooper was fired.
In a hearing Wednesday, BSO Deputy Joseph Sasso was reinstated to his position, but now 10 others are on track to be fired.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, Dan Rakofsky, the president of the Broward Deputy Sheriffs Association, said the murders exposed areas in the department that needed fixing.
“The problem is that, instead of correcting those areras, decisions are made to terminate people — long-standing, dedicated, public servants who have protested the people of Broward County, some of them for 20 years or more,” he said. “This is a tragic and heinous premeditated murder, and our employees did everything they could that day, to their knowledge.”
Rakofsky released a statement that reads in part:
“These excessive punishments demonstrate an overreaction by the Sheriff, where gaps in the agency’s capabilities have been exposed, along with many systemic and institutional processes in need of better oversight and/or revision. Employees who have dedicated their lives to protecting this community throughout their police careers have been sacrificed as political cover for the failures of the systems and processes of the agency at large. This is an overreaction for public effect that does nothing to prevent the next tragedy. The termination of many of these heroes does nothing to make the people of Broward County safer.”
The statement also says this disciplinary action is biased, and it is scapegoating these deputies because of what happened Feb. 16.
Friday, a BSO spokesperson issued the following statement:
“The Internal Affairs investigation into this incident remains open and active and no additional information can be released at this time.”
As for these potential firings, the 10 employees are all entitled to a hearing. Those hearings could be happening in the next few weeks.
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