Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1116
       
       
        
       By Senator Simmons
       
       
       
       
       
       9-00991-18                                            20181116__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to emergency alerts; creating s.
    3         784.072, F.S.; defining terms; authorizing a local law
    4         enforcement agency to activate the Emergency Alert
    5         System and issue a Lockdown Alert to public and
    6         private schools and child care facilities under
    7         certain circumstances; requiring local law enforcement
    8         agencies to create and maintain a list of all public
    9         schools, private schools, and child care facilities
   10         within their jurisdictions which must be included in
   11         the Lockdown Alert notification; authorizing public or
   12         private schools or child care facilities to contact
   13         their local law enforcement agencies to verify that
   14         they are included on the list or to register for
   15         inclusion on the list; requiring a local law
   16         enforcement agency to take a private school or child
   17         care facility off the list if the school or facility
   18         requests that it be taken off the list; requiring the
   19         Department of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with the
   20         Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and
   21         the Department of Transportation, to activate the
   22         Emergency Alert System and issue an Imminent Threat
   23         Alert to the public at the request of a local law
   24         enforcement agency under certain circumstances;
   25         specifying information that must be provided in
   26         Imminent Threat Alerts, if available; requiring
   27         Imminent Threat Alerts to be disseminated to the
   28         public through the Emergency Alert System and through
   29         the use of certain dynamic message signs; providing
   30         that the agency responsible for posting the Imminent
   31         Threat Alert on the dynamic message sign does not
   32         violate this section if certain traffic emergency
   33         information is displayed on the sign in lieu of the
   34         alert; providing an effective date.
   35          
   36  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   37  
   38         Section 1. Section 784.072, Florida Statutes, is created to
   39  read:
   40         784.072 Notification of imminent threat to schools and
   41  child care facilities or the public; Lockdown Alert; Imminent
   42  Threat Alert.—
   43         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   44         (a) “Child care facility” has the same meaning as in s.
   45  402.302.
   46         (b) “Imminent Threat Alert” means a notification issued
   47  pursuant to subsection (3) which informs the public that an
   48  imminent threat exists such that the lives and safety of people
   49  are endangered, including, but not limited to, instances in
   50  which a person suspected of killing or causing serious bodily
   51  injury to another person or assaulting another person with a
   52  deadly weapon has fled the scene of the offense.
   53         (c) “Lockdown Alert” means a notification issued pursuant
   54  to subsection (2) which informs public schools, private schools,
   55  and child care facilities that an imminent threat exists,
   56  including, but not limited to, instances in which a person
   57  suspected of killing or causing serious bodily injury to another
   58  person or assaulting another person with a deadly weapon has
   59  fled the scene of the offense. The alert advises the schools and
   60  facilities to lock their doors and encourages persons in those
   61  schools and facilities to remain in lockdown and be vigilant in
   62  watching for and reporting any suspicious activity.
   63         (d) “Private school” has the same meaning as in s. 1002.01.
   64         (2)(a) A local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction
   65  over the scene of an incident giving rise to an imminent threat
   66  to the public may activate the Emergency Alert System and issue
   67  a Lockdown Alert to all public and private schools and child
   68  care facilities that it determines are at risk, given their
   69  proximity to the incident, including an incident in which the
   70  following conditions are satisfied:
   71         1. A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
   72  injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
   73  another person.
   74         2. The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
   75  the scene.
   76         3. The law enforcement agency investigating the offense has
   77  determined that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the
   78  public safety.
   79         (b) For purposes of complying with this subsection, each
   80  local law enforcement agency shall create and maintain a list of
   81  all public schools, private schools, and child care facilities
   82  within its jurisdiction.
   83         (c) A public or private school or child care facility may
   84  contact local law enforcement agencies to verify that it is
   85  included on the list of those that will receive a Lockdown Alert
   86  or to register to be included on the list. A local law
   87  enforcement agency must take a private school or child care
   88  facility off the list if the school or facility requests that it
   89  be taken off the list.
   90         (3) At the request of a local law enforcement agency, the
   91  Department of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with the
   92  Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the
   93  Department of Transportation, must activate the Emergency Alert
   94  System and issue an Imminent Threat Alert to the public when the
   95  local law enforcement agency confirms that an imminent threat to
   96  the public exists, including, but not limited to, circumstances
   97  in which the following conditions have been satisfied:
   98         (a) A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
   99  injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
  100  another person.
  101         (b) The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
  102  the scene.
  103         (c) The law enforcement agency has determined that the
  104  suspect poses an imminent threat to the public safety.
  105         (4)An Imminent Threat Alert must, to the extent
  106  practicable, provide a detailed description of a suspect’s
  107  vehicle or other means of escape, the license plate number of
  108  the suspect’s vehicle, or any other available information that
  109  may assist in averting further harm or in the apprehending of
  110  the suspect.
  111         (5)(a) An Imminent Threat Alert must be immediately
  112  disseminated to the public through the Emergency Alert System
  113  and through the use of the dynamic message signs that are
  114  located along the State Highway System.
  115         (b) If a traffic emergency arises requiring that
  116  information pertaining to the traffic emergency be displayed on
  117  a dynamic message sign on a state highway in lieu of an Imminent
  118  Threat Alert, the agency responsible for posting the Imminent
  119  Threat Alert on the dynamic message sign does not violate this
  120  section.
  121         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.