A Case of Cops Not Taking Domestic Violence Threats Seriously

Multiple people are dead because of it. Broward deputies suspended after Tamarac murders | WTSP

At least the sheriff recognizes that his department fell short.

36-year-old Andrew Ferrin, 34-year-old Mary Gingles, and her father 64-year-old David Pozner were allegedly shot to death by 43-year-old Nathan Gingles. 4-year-old Seraphine Gingles witnessed two of the murders, before being kidnapped by her father. The child was later recovered in what Sheriff Gregory Tony called a "remarkable hostage rescue."

So where did they drop the ball? They had the chance to arrest Nathan Gingles in December. Well, maybe. More work would have been needed. That work was not done.

Tony said there were seven members of his agency that had "some involvement" with the investigation and are now on administrative lead pending further investigation. Those suspended include one lieutenant, two sergeants and four deputies.

"These aren't shortcomings of policies, procedures, training or equipment from my assessment, this is really just a shortcoming of performance, whether it be complacency, not taking a greater interest, and not doing their due diligence to make sure they're documenting everything in an accurate manner so when it does arrive in the investigator's hand, they have a comprehensive report that'll allow them to make better judgement and decisions," the sheriff said.

Tamarc, Florida is about a 10 or 12 mile drive north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is roughly five miles inland of the Atlantic coast on the east side of the city, and the west side of the city runs up against The Everglades Wildlife Management Area.

I hope that Sheriff Tony can fix things, but the truth is relying on The System™ to protect you is a fool's hope. When seconds count, police are minutes away. That is true even when they do everything right. 911 systems don't work 100 percent of the time, and are often understaffed. Police departments can be (and often are) understaffed. You may call for help, but it won't be there instantly.

Now a gun may not have saved these people. There are no guarantees in this life outside of death and taxes. But it may have helped. We will never know.

And people like Nathan Gringles need to accept the phrase, "It's over." What did his indignation accomplish? He is facing 3 murder charges in Florida. I'm no lawyer, but I believe the added charge of "violation of domestic violence injunction" makes him eligible for execution in Florida.