No confidence' vote on Sheriff Israel is in - and the results are overwhelming

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who was widely criticized in the wake of the Parkland school massacre, was admonished by his own deputies in a "no confidence" vote Thursday.

Here are the overwhelming results

534 union members voted to affirm "no confidence" in Sheriff Israel, while supporters only came to 94 votes. The vote was held by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, which represents 1,325 deputies out of 2,560 certified deputies in the county.

While the vote is largely symbolic, it could have real consequences - Florida Governor Rick Scott has the power to remove the sheriff from his office, and he could take this vote into consideration when making that decision.

“There is a complete failure at the sheriff’s office and he doesn’t recognize it,” said Association president Jeff Bell on Friday about the vote.

Sheriff Israel responds

Sheriff Israel commented on the vote in a defiant statement Thursday. "I will not be distracted from my duties by this inconsequential IUPA union vote, which was designed to extort a 6.5 percent pay raise from this agency," his statement read.

"Those who purportedly voted in this straw ballot reflect only a small number of the 5,400 BSO employees," he said. "The unions representing the vast majority of our employees solidly support the leadership of this agency."