Scot Peterson, the former Broward County deputy sheriff who remained outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, while Nikolas Cruzallegedly gunned down 17 people, has begun receiving pension payments that will surpass $100,000 per year.
The state began paying Peterson $8,702.35 per month in April, and he’s eligible to continue receiving pension payments for the rest of his life, the Florida Department of Management Services told the Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday. According to Florida’s state pension handbook, the amount a state employee receives is based on the number of years served and his or her average salary during their highest-earning years. Peterson was a deputy for 32 years.
Peterson resigned and retired in February after admitting that he had heard gunshots, but saying he hadn’t believed they were coming from inside the school. The investigation into his conduct is ongoing.
OK, maybe not just wow… of course, the obvious outrage is that Peterson is a disgrace and shouldn’t be receiving a pension at all. But also consider that Peterson was just an average deputy sheriff in one county in Florida. He’s only 54 years old. He will be receiving over $100k a year for the rest of his life. That could be millions of dollars.
And he is one retired government employee.
This is why government is always “broke.”
You can expect that Illinois and Californicate will both attempt to send their pension-obligation bill to ALL of the other States within 5 years.