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CS/HB 3 — Assault or Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer
by Criminal Justice Subcommittee and Rep. Nehr and others (SB 464 by Senator Latvala)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Criminal Justice Committee (CJ)
The bill creates s. 784.071, F.S., which codifies an existing alert program that was created by executive order in 2008. This type of program often goes by the name “blue alert,” though the precise name of the current Florida program is the Florida Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Alert Plan.
The bill provides that, at the request of an authorized person employed at a law enforcement agency, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Department of Transportation, shall activate the emergency alert system and issue a blue alert if:
- A law enforcement officer has been killed, has suffered serious bodily injury, or has been assaulted with a deadly weapon; or a law enforcement officer is missing while in the line of duty evidencing concern for the officer’s safety.
- The suspect has fled the scene of the offense.
- The law enforcement agency investigating the offense determines that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the public or to other law enforcement officers.
- A detailed description of the suspect’s vehicle, or other means of escape, or the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle is available for broadcasting.
- Dissemination of available information to the public may help avert further harm or assist in the apprehension of the suspect.
- If the law enforcement officer is missing, there is sufficient information available relating to the officer’s last known location and physical description, and the description of any vehicle involved, including the license plate number or other identifying information, to be broadcast to the public and other law enforcement agencies, which could assist in locating the missing officer.
The bill also requires that a blue alert be immediately disseminated to the public through the emergency alert system by broadcasting the alert on television, radio, and the dynamic message signs that are located along the state’s highways. If a traffic emergency arises requiring that information pertaining to the traffic emergency be displayed on a highway message sign in lieu of the blue alert information, the agency responsible for displaying information on the highway message sign is not in violation of this new section.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect October 1, 2011.
Vote: Senate 37-0; House 117-0