Senate Bill sb1856c2
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Florida Senate - 2003 CS for CS for SB 1856
By the Committees on Judiciary; Criminal Justice; and Senators
Diaz de la Portilla and Argenziano
308-2381-03
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to law enforcement officers and
3 correctional officers; amending s. 112.532,
4 F.S.; revising provisions relating to
5 disciplinary actions against officers;
6 providing grounds for civil actions by
7 officers; providing for officers to obtain
8 investigative reports; revising guidelines for
9 questioning officers who are being
10 investigated; providing for the production of
11 an investigative report and supporting
12 documents in a disciplinary case against a law
13 enforcement or correctional officer to that
14 officer prior to the imposition of certain
15 disciplinary actions; providing for such
16 records to remain confidential pursuant to the
17 current public-records exemption; providing
18 that such provision is not to be construed to
19 provide a law enforcement or correctional
20 officer with a property interest in a position
21 of employment; amending s. 112.533, F.S.;
22 providing for legal counsel or a representative
23 of the officer's choice to review a complaint
24 filed against the officer and all statements
25 made by the complainant and witnesses;
26 providing an effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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30 Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section
31 112.532, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
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1 112.532 Law enforcement officers' and correctional
2 officers' rights.--All law enforcement officers and
3 correctional officers employed by or appointed to a law
4 enforcement agency or a correctional agency shall have the
5 following rights and privileges:
6 (1) RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND
7 CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHILE UNDER INVESTIGATION.--Whenever a
8 law enforcement officer or correctional officer is under
9 investigation and subject to interrogation by members of his
10 or her agency for any reason which could lead to disciplinary
11 action, demotion, or dismissal, such interrogation shall be
12 conducted under the following conditions:
13 (a) The interrogation shall be conducted at a
14 reasonable hour, preferably at a time when the law enforcement
15 officer or correctional officer is on duty, unless the
16 seriousness of the investigation is of such a degree that
17 immediate action is required.
18 (b) The interrogation shall take place either at the
19 office of the command of the investigating officer or at the
20 office of the local precinct, police unit, or correctional
21 unit in which the incident allegedly occurred, as designated
22 by the investigating officer or agency.
23 (c) The law enforcement officer or correctional
24 officer under investigation shall be informed of the rank,
25 name, and command of the officer in charge of the
26 investigation, the interrogating officer, and all persons
27 present during the interrogation. All questions directed to
28 the officer under interrogation shall be asked by or and
29 through one interrogator during any one investigative
30 interrogation, unless specifically waived by the officer under
31 investigation at any one time.
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1 (d) The law enforcement officer or correctional
2 officer under investigation shall be informed of the nature of
3 the investigation prior to any interrogation, and he or she
4 shall be informed of the name of all complainants.
5 (e) Interrogating sessions shall be for reasonable
6 periods and shall be timed to allow for such personal
7 necessities and rest periods as are reasonably necessary.
8 (f) The law enforcement officer or correctional
9 officer under interrogation shall not be subjected to
10 offensive language or be threatened with transfer, dismissal,
11 or disciplinary action. No promise or reward shall be made as
12 an inducement to answer any questions.
13 (g) The formal interrogation of a law enforcement
14 officer or correctional officer, including all recess periods,
15 shall be recorded on audio tape, or otherwise preserved in
16 such a manner as to allow a transcript to be prepared, and
17 there shall be no unrecorded questions or statements. Upon the
18 request of the interrogated officer, a copy of any such
19 recording of the interrogation session must be made available
20 to the interrogated officer no later than 72 hours, excluding
21 holidays and weekends, following said interrogation.
22 (h) If the law enforcement officer or correctional
23 officer under interrogation is under arrest, or is likely to
24 be placed under arrest as a result of the interrogation, he or
25 she shall be completely informed of all his or her rights
26 prior to the commencement of the interrogation.
27 (i) At the request of any law enforcement officer or
28 correctional officer under investigation, he or she shall have
29 the right to be represented by counsel or any other
30 representative of his or her choice, who shall be present at
31 all times during such interrogation whenever the interrogation
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1 relates to the officer's continued fitness for law enforcement
2 or correctional service.
3 (j) Notwithstanding the rights and privileges provided
4 by this part, this part does not limit the right of an agency
5 to discipline or to pursue criminal charges against an
6 officer.
7 (3) CIVIL SUITS BROUGHT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR
8 CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.--Every law enforcement officer or
9 correctional officer shall have the right to bring civil suit
10 against any person, group of persons, or organization or
11 corporation, or the head of such organization or corporation,
12 for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise, suffered during
13 the performance of the officer's official duties, or for
14 abridgment of the officer's civil rights arising out of the
15 officer's performance of official duties, or for filing a
16 complaint against the officer which the person knew was false
17 when it was filed. This section does not establish a separate
18 civil action against the officer's employing law enforcement
19 agency for the investigation and processing of a complaint
20 filed under this part.
21 (4)(a) NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION.--No dismissal,
22 demotion, transfer, reassignment, or other personnel action
23 which might result in loss of pay or benefits or which might
24 otherwise be considered a punitive measure shall be taken
25 against any law enforcement officer or correctional officer
26 unless such law enforcement officer or correctional officer is
27 notified of the action and the reason or reasons therefor
28 prior to the effective date of such action.
29 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 112.533(2),
30 whenever a law enforcement officer or correctional officer is
31 subject to disciplinary action consisting of suspension with
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1 loss of pay, demotion, or dismissal, the officer shall, upon
2 request, be provided with a complete copy of the investigative
3 report and supporting documents and with the opportunity to
4 address the findings in the report with the employing law
5 enforcement agency prior to the imposition of the disciplinary
6 action consisting of suspension with loss of pay, demotion, or
7 dismissal. The contents of the complaint and investigation
8 shall remain confidential until such time as the employing law
9 enforcement agency makes a final determination whether or not
10 to issue a notice of disciplinary action consisting of
11 suspension with loss of pay, demotion, or dismissal. This
12 paragraph shall not be construed to provide law enforcement
13 officers with a property interest or expectancy of continued
14 employment, employment, or appointment as a law enforcement
15 officer.
16 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and
17 subsection (4) of section 112.533, Florida Statutes, are
18 amended to read:
19 112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints.--
20 (2)(a) A complaint filed against a law enforcement
21 officer or correctional officer with a law enforcement agency
22 or correctional agency and all information obtained pursuant
23 to the investigation by the agency of such complaint shall be
24 confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1)
25 until the investigation ceases to be active, or until the
26 agency head or the agency head's designee provides written
27 notice to the officer who is the subject of the complaint,
28 either personally or by mail, that the agency has either:
29 1. Concluded the investigation with a finding not to
30 proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges; or
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1 2. Concluded the investigation with a finding to
2 proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges.
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4 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the officer who is
5 the subject of the complaint, along with legal counsel or any
6 other representative of his or her choice, may review the
7 complaint and all statements regardless of form made by the
8 complainant and witnesses immediately prior to the beginning
9 of the investigative interview. If a witness to a complaint is
10 incarcerated in a correctional facility and may be under the
11 supervision of, or have contact with, the officer under
12 investigation, only the names and written statements of the
13 complainant and nonincarcerated witnesses may be reviewed by
14 the officer under investigation immediately prior to the
15 beginning of the investigative interview.
16 (4) Any person who is a participant in an internal
17 investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the
18 investigation and the subject's legal counsel or a
19 representative of his or her choice, the investigator
20 conducting the investigation, and any witnesses in the
21 investigation, who willfully discloses any information
22 obtained pursuant to the agency's investigation, including,
23 but not limited to, the identity of the officer under
24 investigation, the nature of the questions asked, information
25 revealed, or documents furnished in connection with a
26 confidential internal investigation of an agency, before such
27 complaint, document, action, or proceeding becomes a public
28 record as provided in this section commits a misdemeanor of
29 the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
30 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a law
31 enforcement or correctional officer's ability to gain access
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1 to information under paragraph (2)(a). Additionally, a
2 sheriff, police chief, or other head of a law enforcement
3 agency, or his or her designee, is not precluded by this
4 section from acknowledging the existence of a complaint and
5 the fact that an investigation is underway.
6 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
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8 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
9 CS/SB 1856
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11 - Clarifies questions are to be asked solely by or through
one interrogator unless the officer waives that right.
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- States that a separate cause of action is not established
13 against an officer's employing agency on the basis of a
complaint filed against another officer.
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- Expands the provisions about what documents and reports
15 are to be given to an officer in a pending disciplinary
action.
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- Provides for the confidentiality of a complaint and
17 investigation of an officer pending a disciplinary
action.
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