Florida Police Chiefs Association Update: Week Ending February 8, 2013
Feb 8, 2013
The following is an informational update on law enforcement news, events, legislative developments and meetings relating to the Florida Police Chiefs Association community for the week ending February 8, 2013. Click on the hyperlinks in bold type to access all information.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Florida Police Chiefs Association lobbyists, Colodny Fass.
NEWS
Manhunt for ex-cop accused of killing 3 in California expands
Law enforcement officials spent all night searching the snowy mountains of Southern California in search of a fired police officer who threatened to bring “warfare” to the Los Angeles Police Department and went on a shooting rampage that left a policeman and two others dead.
Florida ban on drones advances despite law-enforcement objections
Police want lawmakers to make an exception for crowd control in a bill that bans the use of drones for law and code enforcement, but the measure won committee approval Wednesday without that change.
Fewer inmates re-offending after release
Fewer Florida prison inmates are re-offending after their release, Corrections Secretary Mike Crews said Monday.
Southwest Florida authorities experimenting with alternate reporting reporting methods
Sending a law enforcement officer to a caller’s location isn’t cheap, and sometimes it might not even seem necessary.
Unfit for Duty: Law officers’ misconduct stil going unchecked
Last year, Florida police cheated on exams, spied on colleagues, lied under oath and faced criminal charges of driving drunk, selling cocaine, stalking and child neglect.
Florida Governor Rick Scott won’t propose any gun law changes
Governor Rick Scott plans no proposals to change any Florida gun laws, a spokeswoman said Thursday, though he still wants to hear ideas for improving the safety of schools.
Florida Commemorates The Best Law Enforcement Officers
There are thousands of law enforcement officers in the state of Florida, sworn to serve and protect its citizens.
Ex-New York State trooper becomes a police chief in Florida village
Former Congers resident Christopher Elg, a retired New York State trooper once wounded in a sneak attack, has been hired as the police chief of Tequesta in Palm Beach County, Fla.
Hollywood names veteran cop Vincent Affanato as interim chief
The city manager has named a police major as interim police chief to take over when Chief Chad Wagner retires at the end of the month.
Nassau Deputy Chief a Finalist for Sanford Police Chief
Trayvon Martin Incident Mired Florida Police Department
Nassau County Deputy Chief Kevin Canavan is a finalist in the run to become head of the controversial Sanford, Florida police department.
Rochester Director of Public Integrity a finalist for Sanford, Florida police chief job
A man who has served Rochester for nearly 30 years is a finalist for a police chief job in the city where Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was killed.
Gulfport Police Chief To Lead Tampa Bay Area Police Chiefs Association
Gulfport Police Chief Rob Vincent has been elected president of the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Association, the organization announced Thursday.
Two St. Petersburg Cops Honored with Florida Officers of the Year
Two St. Petersburg police officers are being honored as Florida’s best.
Palm Beach Association of Police Chiefs Select Executive Director
The Palm Beach County Association of Chiefs of Police hired retired police chief Jim Kelly to take over the day-to-day operations of the organization.
Florida bill would ban massage parlors from operating late at night
Legislators introduce bill to crack down on human trafficking in the massage industry
In a bid to crack down on sex trafficking in massage parlors, Florida legislators took the first step on Wednesday toward banning massage parlors from operating between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Florida marks one year of offering crash reports online
On February 1st, 2012 the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) began offering parties involved in car wrecks the convenience option of obtaining their official crash report online via www.buycrash.com rather than having to go to the responding law enforcement agency to get a copy.
Florida police use driver database to snoop
Some Florida police officers have been using the state’s driver information database to check out celebrities, relatives and others, investigators say.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement: Commemorates AMBER Alert Awareness Day
Each year, on Jan. 13, the U.S. Department of Justice remembers the abduction and brutal murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, for whom the AMBER Plan was named.
REPORTS
The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking within the Department of Justice has determined that 19 of the 37 jurisdictions that have submitted packages for review have substantially implemented the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that administers the National Canine Program, is collecting and using key data on its canine program, but could better analyze these data to identify program trends. The TSA collects canine team data using the Canine Website System, a central management database. TSA uses CWS to capture the amount of time canine teams conduct training as well as searching for explosives odor, among other functions. However, TSA has not fully analyzed the data it collects in CWS to identify program trends and areas that are working well or in need of corrective action. Such analyses could help TSA to determine canine teams’ proficiency, inform future deployment efforts, and help ensure that taxpayer funds are used effectively.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2011
In 2011, 72 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty. Of the officers killed, 50 were employed by city police departments. Line-of-duty deaths occurred in 30 states and Puerto Rico. Of officers killed in 2011, most (63) were killed with firearms. Twenty-one officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders. In addition, most (51) of the officers killed were wearing body armor at the time of their murders
In 2011, there were 1,563 instances of newborns diagnosed with drug exposure in Florida. Using data from both the Florida Medicaid claims database and the Florida Hospital Inpatient Discharge database, the taskforce estimated the long-term cost of drug-exposed babies in Fiscal Year 2011 to be roughly $100 million. This report includes several strategies to reduce prescription drug abuse by pregnant mothers, including creating a public awareness prevention campaign and screenings by medical professionals to detect substance use during pregnancy.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Preliminary Semi-annual Uniform Crime Report, January-June 2012
Preliminary figures indicate that, as a whole, law enforcement agencies throughout the nation reported an increase of 1.9 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention for the first 6 months of 2012 when compared with figures reported for the same time in 2011. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The number of property crimes in the United States from January to June of 2012 increased 1.5 percent when compared with data from the same time period in 2011. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson is also a property crime, but data for arson are not included in property crime totals. Figures for 2012 indicate that arson increased 3.2 percent when compared to 2011 figures from the same time period.
Nationwide, law enforcement agencies in rapidly increasing numbers have embraced specialized policing responses (SPRs) to people with mental illnesses. These efforts, which prioritize treatment over incarceration when appropriate, are planned and implemented in partnership with community service providers and citizens. The two most prevalent SPR approaches are Crisis Intervention Teams and police-mental health co-responder teams. Individual states have responded to the growing need to support SPRs by assigning a public agency or nonprofit the lead role in helping local communities to design, implement, and sustain effective responses to people with mental illnesses. Specifically, state legislatures create the laws that authorize police powers for emergency mental health evaluations and custody. This report describes how statewide coordination efforts are structured in three states: Connecticut, Ohio, and Utah. Additionally, program examples from five other states (Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Maine) are discussed.
Those at heightened risk for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection include persons with weak immune systems, such as persons with HIV/AIDS or cancer, diabetics, IV drug users, and those living in confined spaces with others, including prisoners. Given the high number of prisoners who are HIV positive and/or present or past IV drug users, the impact of confinement in close quarters is further increased. Hundreds of reports of MRSA infection outbreaks have been reported since 2000. It is a serious health problem in many jails and prisons. It can also be a serious liability issue for local and state governments if not properly addressed.
This policy brief presents a set of recommendations for a new response to child victims of trafficking, who are often foster children, runaways, and other youth once under the care of child protective services. The recommendations emerged from a national roundtable of national, state, and local advocates, practitioners, and officials to consider the need to incorporate a child welfare response into anti-trafficking efforts, and to provide legal representation to the minor victims of foreign and domestic trafficking. Twenty-six recommendations address changes in policy, legislation, research, training, resource allocation, and legal representation and include recommending states ensure that the criminal records of trafficking victims can be expunged of charges or convictions that resulted from the trafficking victimization and recommending the Department of Labor and Department of Justice conduct research on the prevalence of labor trafficking and the needs of victims, including child victims.
FEMA’s NCRC officials are not assisting regional officials in (1) developing performance measures to better assess the implementation of their strategic plan and (2) identifying federal funding available to prioritize preparedness investments. They are not doing so because they view their role as that of acting as a coordinator for other federal agencies, although they agreed that they could do more to support regional efforts and are positioned to do so.
REGULATORY UPDATE
Notice of Variances and Waivers
To view the notice, click here.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
RULE NO.: RULE TITLE: 11B-27.002: Certification, Employment or Appointment, Reactivation, and Terminating Employment or Appointment of Officers
The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission hereby gives notice that it has issued an order. On January 9, 2013, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, received an emergency petition for a temporary waiver of subsection 11B-27.002(4), and subsection 11B-35.002(2), F.A.C., by Rodney Kevin Schwartz. Subsection 11B-27.002(4), and subsection 11B-35.002(2), F.A.C., require officers to become employed within four years of beginning basic recruit training. After a review by Commission staff, it was determined that no emergency existed, for the Commission would vote on the matter prior the expiry of the Petitioner’s eligibility for certification. Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly Volume 39, Number 14, on January 22, 2013. T he Petition was supported by the Petitioner’s prospective employer, Sweetwater Police Department. On January 31, 2013, at its regularly scheduled business agenda meeting held in St. Augustine, FL, the Commission found that the Petitioner’s situation is unique. The Petitioner demonstrated that the strict application of the Commission’s rules in this case would violate the principles of fairness. The Petitioner’s four years to become employed would expire on February 23, 2013. The Commission found that the purposes of the underlying statute, Section 943.1395(1), F.S., to ensure that officers meet strict qualification criteria and minimum training requirements, would be addressed in an alternative method by granting this rule waiver. The Commission granted the Petitioner’s waiver request. The Petitioner has six months from the date of the final order in this matter to become employed as a law enforcement officer.
A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P.O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32302, or by telephoning (850) 410-7676.
Notice of Meeting
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
The Region XIV Trust Fund Advisory Council announces a public meeting to which all persons are invited.
DATE AND TIME: February 12, 2013, 10:00 a.m.
PLACE: Miami Dade College, North Campus, Room 9118
GENERAL SUBJECT MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Discussion of Region XIV Reports and other Region XIV business matters.
A copy of the agenda may be obtained by contacting Maevis Pierre, Interim, Region XIV Secretary (305) 237-1329; email: mpierre6@mdc.edu.