Senate Bill sb1410

    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1410

    By Senators Miller, Aronberg, Crist, Dawson, Siplin, Bennett,
    Campbell, Margolis and Saunders




    18-740-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to neighborhood crime watch

  3         programs; authorizing a county sheriff or

  4         municipal police department to establish

  5         neighborhood crime watch programs; providing

  6         for residents and business owners located

  7         within the county or municipality to

  8         participate in the program; prohibiting the

  9         harassment of a participant of a neighborhood

10         crime watch program; providing a penalty;

11         defining the term "harass"; providing an

12         effective date.

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14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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16         Section 1.  Establishment of neighborhood crime watch

17  programs.--A county sheriff or municipal police department may

18  establish neighborhood crime watch programs within the county

19  or municipality. The participants of a neighborhood crime

20  watch program shall include, but need not be limited to,

21  residents of the county or municipality and owners of

22  businesses located within the county or municipality.

23         Section 2.  Harassment of participant of neighborhood

24  crime watch program prohibited; penalty; definition.--

25         (1)  It is a misdemeanor of the first degree for a

26  person to willfully harass a person who is a member of a

27  neighborhood crime watch group for the purpose of intimidating

28  or retaliating against that person for his or her

29  participation in a neighborhood crime watch program. It is a

30  violation of this section for a person to harass a member of a

31  neighborhood crime watch group while such member is traveling

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1410
    18-740-04




 1  to or from a neighborhood crime watch meeting, actively

 2  participating in a neighborhood crime watch meeting or

 3  activity, or actively participating in an ongoing criminal

 4  investigation, as designated by a law enforcement officer.

 5         (2)  As used in this section, the term "harass" means

 6  to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person

 7  which causes substantial emotional distress in that person and

 8  serves no legitimate purpose.

 9         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

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12                          SENATE SUMMARY

13    Authorizes the establishment of neighborhood crime watch
      programs within a county or municipality by the sheriff
14    or municipal police department. Provides that it is a
      first-degree misdemeanor to harass a participant of a
15    neighborhood crime watch program for the purpose of
      intimidating or retaliating against that person for his
16    or her participation in the neighborhood crime watch
      program.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.