Latest news with #FloridaPoliceChiefsAssociation
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill that would prevent anonymous complaints against law enforcement approved by Florida House
(Photo by) A proposal to require any complaint against a law enforcement officer to be signed by the person filing the complaint — thus lifting their anonymity — was approved by the Florida House Thursday, but its chances of becoming law are moot as its Senate companion has never received a committee hearing. The bill (HB 317), sponsored by Miami-Dade Republican Tom Fabricio, has bitterly divided law enforcement in Florida. The Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Police Chiefs Association have both came out in opposition to the bill. But the Florida Fraternal Order of Police and Florida Police Benevolent Association support it. In committee meetings and again on the House floor on Thursday, Fabricio emphasized that his bill does not preclude individuals from making an anonymous complaint. However, the bill says that before any interrogations of the accused officer are to commence, that officer must be informed about the identity of the individual making the complaint. Several House Democrats expressed concerns about the legislation. 'This bill builds walls around misconduct and discourages good officers and community members from speaking up,' said Broward County Rep. Daryl Campbell. 'Under this bill, no officer can be investigated unless they receive a copy of a signed, sworn complaint. That sounds reasonable, until you remember how rare it is for whistleblowers, whether it's civilians or fellow officers, to feel safe on the record, especially when it's about someone within their own department.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Orlando Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said, 'False accusations are serious, but so is unchecked power.' 'This bill doesn't protect justice, it protects silence,' she continued, adding that the Legislature last year passed measures severely restricting civilian review boards and enabling police, firefighters, and and paramedics to establish 25-foot no-go-zones around themselves while working. 'The Florida Police Chiefs Association and the Sheriffs Association both oppose this bill — that should tell us something,' said Bracy Davis. 'I don't just legislate for Tallahassee, I legislate through the lens of my district, a district representing all people, inclusive of of black, brown, and yes, blue lives. Let me clear: I back the blue, wholeheartedly, but I also back the Black and the brown.' But Hillsborough County Republican Rep. Danny Alvarez, who in his job outside of the Legislature serves as general counsel for the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, blasted some of the Democrats' remarks. 'At some point, you have to stop attacking the 99.8 [percent] and start supporting them,' he said. 'At some point, you have to realize that the rhetoric that is absolutely anti-cop in this chamber has to be checked by your desire to have a safe and secure society with an accountability process that exists today. Cops are one of the most regulated people you have ever seen, and if you don't believe that, go be one.' The House passed the measure, 93-16, with several Democrats joining Republicans. However, the Senate bill (SB 516), sponsored by Hillsborough County Republican Jay Collins, was never heard in any committee of that chamber, meaning the measure is effectively dead for this session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Back the Blue? Lawmakers remain divided on bill regarding anonymous complaints about law enforcement
Police squad car lights. (Stock photo by) A proposal that would lift the anonymity of people filing complaints against a law enforcement officers advanced in a Florida House committee on Thursday, even though key players in Florida law enforcement are divided about whether the legislation is truly 'Backing the Blue.' The proposal sponsored by Miami-Dade Republican Tom Fabricio (HB 317) would require a person who initially files an anonymous complaint about a law or corrections officer in the state to have to give up his or her anonymity before any interrogation of that officer can commence. Both the Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Police Chiefs Association oppose the bill. 'It will not increase accountability,' said Tampa International Airport Police Department Chief Charlie Vasquez, who is serving as president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association. 'It will make it more difficult to hold officers accountable when they have serious misconduct.' But other parts of the law enforcement community do support the measure, such as the Florida Fraternal Order of Police. A member of that organization, Miami Police officer Felix Del Rosario, said the proposal is about fairness, integrity, 'and the protection of those who dedicate their lives to public service.' Del Rosario added that, for too long, police officers in Florida have been subjected to 'prolonged and ambiguous investigations.' 'This legislation helps address those inequities,' he said, 'by ensuring that officers have timely access to their complete investigative file, providing safeguards against unfounded and malicious allegations that can have long lasting affects on an officers' reputation, career, and upholding the principals process and equal treatment under the law.' Orange County Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis noted how the Legislature last year effectively eliminated civilian review boards designed to oversee certain local law enforcement, which was supported by the sheriffs and police chiefs, so why wouldn't they support those agencies on this piece of legislation? 'I feel like I'm in an alternate universe right now because I hear from this chamber, from this committee, often times that we need to 'Back the Blue.' And the Blue just spoke. What I wrote down from the police chief is that this bill will make it more difficult to hold officers accountable when they participate in misconduct,' she said. And Bracy Davis, who is Black, said she was speaking as a representative of a minority-majority district with constituents who in some cases 'have apprehension when it comes to dealing with police officers.' 'So, not only do I 'Back the Blue', but I also back the Black, and I back the Brown.' Rep. Bruce Antone, who also is Black, said he opposed the bill which, ultimately would repeal anonymity for a complainant once law enforcement begins interrogating the accused officer. Antone listed three separate occasions when he was harassed by law enforcement. South Florida Democratic Rep. Mike Gottlieb said he disagreed with the notion that if he opposed the bill he somehow was not 'Backing the Blue.' 'We have many masters, and in a bill like this we have the administration, we have the rank and file, the law enforcement officers who are on the street fighting day and day out to protect the society, and we have the citizens, and each one of us represents approximately 175,000 individuals,' he said. 'And to come here and tell us that if we vote no on this product we don't 'Back the Blue?' That's just not true.' But Republicans on the committee said that while the administrators and lobbyists for Florida's top law enforcement agencies oppose the bill, actual cops on the street support it, and that should be good enough. 'All we're saying is, if you have a complaint against someone, just like if you're going to accuse someone in a court of law, put your face on it,' said Hillsborough County GOP Rep. Danny Alvarez, whose job outside of the Legislature is general counsel for the Tampa Police Benevolent Association. 'And if you can't put your face and name on it, then it's not worthy of going forward and smearing this person for the rest of their career.' Alvarez added that the bill was 'for the cop, not the sergeant, not the captain, and not the chief.' Last week, when the bill was heard in the House Government Operations Subcommittee, Jennifer 'Cookie' Pritt, executive director of Florida Police Chiefs Association, gave highly personal testimony regarding an incident involving a herself and a high-ranking command officer as a real life example of why she opposed the bill. She chose not to comment publicly on the measure on Thursday. Ultimately, the House Judiciary Committee voted 16-4 to advance the bill, and it now moves to the full House for consideration. But it may not end up becoming law this year, as its Senate companion (SB 516) has yet to be heard in any committee in that chamber. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Miami Herald
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Do FL cities need to do immigration enforcement? City of South Miami sues to find out
A Miami-Dade County city has become the first to sue Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida's attorney general in a legal challenge that could determine whether local governments are required to let their police officers be trained to perform the duties of federal immigration agents in their communities. On Thursday night, South Miami asked a state judge to weigh in on whether the city is required to enroll in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program — known as 287(g) — that gives local police the ability to stop, question and arrest people who they suspect are in the country illegally. In the lawsuit, the city argues the court's intervention is needed because police departments are facing political pressure from the governor and his surrogates to join the program, even though the city believes the legal requirement to join is limited to the county agencies that oversee jails. South Miami asserts it's already cooperating with federal immigration authorities and that joining the program could expose it to liability and force its officers to pay less attention to key police duties. 'Governor DeSantis and Attorney General Uthmeier have in fact threatened to use their enforcement powers against municipalities and municipal officers in an effort to coerce municipalities into executing 287(g) agreements,' the complaint says. On several occasions this month, DeSantis and Uthmeier have raised the possibility of removing local elected officials from office if they choose not to join the federal immigration enforcement program, a stance that led city council members in Fort Myers to reverse a previous vote not to participate in 287(g). Uthmeier has said preventing local police from getting training under the program is a violation of Florida's ban on so-called sanctuary cities. 'Everyone in the local government should be on notice. This is not discretionary,' Uthmeier said at a news conference this month. Emails show state pressure campaign The state's pressure has worked so far. Across Florida, dozens of police departments have rushed to join the program, including the Fort Myers Police Department— a scenario that South Miami officials mentioned in the legal complaint as an example of the type of political pressure cities are facing. In February, the Florida Police Chiefs Association also began sending emails to police chiefs across the state, urging them to tell their city officials about a new state law ushered in by the governor and the Republican-led Legislature earlier in the month, court records show. The new law requires all Florida sheriffs and chief correctional officers to enroll in the 287(g) jail enforcement model no later than April 1. In that program, correctional officers are trained to perform some of the functions of federal immigration agents at a detention facility. The law — which went into effect on Feb. 14 — did not contemplate the slightly different 287(g) task force model that is meant for police officers who operate outside of detention facilities. At the time the law was enacted, the Trump administration had not yet launched that model. 'The Legislature had the opportunity, if it so intended, to require municipalities to execute 287(g) agreements,' South Miami's complaint says. 'But the Legislature chose not to require municipalities to enter into 287(g) agreements as it did for county-level agencies.' In a Feb. 21 email, the Florida Police Chiefs Association told police officers that all municipalities needed to adopt the 287(g) task force model, the complaint says. The email noted that Larry Keefe, who was recently appointed as the executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, is seeking 'participation from as many municipalities as possible, as soon as possible.' South Miami has yet to enter into a 287(g) agreement. In court records, city officials say the state's pressure campaign has 'placed South Miami in reasonable fear of enforcement action based on its failure to approve' such an agreement. State argues otherwise Florida's attorney general warned cities that if they do not enroll in the program they could face penalties, including elected officials being suspended from office, because they would be violating the state's ban on so-called sanctuary cities. READ MORE: 'Govern yourselves accordingly': Florida goes after city that rejected ICE partnership His threats came after the Fort Myers City Council voted 3-3 against joining the program, a decision it later reversed following the warnings from the state. Florida law prohibits local governments from enacting a 'sanctuary policy,' defined as a policy that prohibits a law enforcement agency from 'participating in a federal immigration operation with a federal immigration agency as permitted by federal and state law.' 'South Miami contends that the Defendants' reading is not supported by the plain language of the statute, and is contrary to an express limitation that the Legislature chose to place upon the definition of 'sanctuary policy' in 2022,' the lawsuit says. City officials further argue that federal law makes clear that 287(g) agreements are voluntary partnerships and that they 'are not necessary for information sharing or cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and ICE.' And if the court decides local governments need to enter into the agreement under state law, South Miami officials say DeSantis' powers to punish them don't go as far as he's saying they do. 'The governor's enforcement powers are more limited than the governor contends,' the complaint says.
