Deputy suspended in Fort Lauderdale airport shooting video probe was disciplined in 2012, records show
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Florida sheriff defended the suspension of one of his deputies as part of an investigation into a leaked surveillance video showing what appears to be a gunman opening fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last week, CBS Miami station WFOR-TV reports.
Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Dingman, a 21-year veteran, was suspended with pay Tuesday after the video was posted on TMZ’s website over the weekend.
“Based on the information I’m going to keep confidential for now that was available to law enforcement and FBI, we conferred and we agreed that right now a suspension is the practical, appropriate measure as we move forward,” Sheriff Scott Israel told WIOD Radio Wednesday morning. “Whoever did this, it is repulsive, and it was despicable. It could possibly be illegal.”
According to documents released by the sheriff’s office on Wednesday, Dingman was disciplined in 2012 for searching in a law enforcement database for personal information on a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who pulled over a speeding Miami police officer.
The documents show that Dingman was written up and received a counseling report.
According to the disciplinary documents, Dingman violated agency policy regarding discretion and computer usage.
The report says Dingman “also indicated that [he realized] that running someone’s name simply for the sake of satisfying one’s curiosity is inappropriate and contrary to policy.”
The documents show that Dingman was warned that further violations will result in disciplinary action.
Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief said FBI and county investigators enhanced the TMZ video, checking to see if a reflection showed the person who used a cellphone to record the video from a computer screen.
The investigation is ongoing.
“Tomorrow, I could put him back to full duty, I could suspend him without pay, he could get arrested, he could get terminated,” Israel said. “Everything is in play right now.”
While investigators look into the case, they’re also checking to see if anyone was paid for the video.
If so, attorney Brad Cohen said that if they prove who sold it and that person was an officer, they could be in trouble.
“If he was paid for this video, there could be some kind of unlawful compensation charge because he was on duty at the time,” Cohen said. “He was in an area that only officers are allowed to be in and he was one of the only people who had access to that evidence and he sold that evidence.”
Also on Wednesday, at the confirmation hearing for Elaine Chao, the nominee to be the next secretary of transportation, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson offered praise for the officers and first responders who rushed to the scene of Friday’s shooting and gave his condolences to the victims and their families.
Nelson said that despite increases in airport security funding last year that doubled the amount of TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams and dog teams and increased the screening of airport workers, more needs to be done in 2017 and beyond.
“This tragic shooting serves as a reminder that our work to improve airport security remains a constant challenge,” Nelson said.
