Senate Bill sb1062

    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1062

    By the Committee on Domestic Security





    583-868C-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the certification and duties

  3         of seaport security officers; creating s.

  4         311.121, F.S.; authorizing the seaport

  5         authority or governing board of certain

  6         seaports to require that seaport security

  7         officers receive additional training and

  8         certification; providing eligibility

  9         requirements for such certification; creating

10         the Seaport Security Officer Qualifications,

11         Training, and Standards Steering Committee to

12         develop the curriculum for the training

13         program; providing for the membership of the

14         steering committee; requiring the Division of

15         Community Colleges to implement the training

16         curriculum; authorizing the substitution of

17         training equivalencies; requiring an

18         examination; providing requirements for

19         certification renewal; providing requirements

20         for schools that offer training for seaport

21         security officers; providing for issuance of a

22         license indicating that the licensee is

23         certified as a seaport security officer;

24         creating s. 311.122, F.S.; authorizing a

25         seaport security officer to take into custody

26         any person whom the officer has cause to

27         believe is trespassing in a restricted access

28         area; providing that such officer is not

29         criminally or civilly liable for taking such

30         action; providing an effective date.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1062
    583-868C-05




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

 2  

 3         Section 1.  Section 311.121, Florida Statutes, is

 4  created to read:

 5         311.121  Qualifications, training, and certification of

 6  licensed security officers working on Florida seaports.--

 7         (1)  Each seaport authority or governing board of a

 8  seaport identified in s. 311.09 which is subject to the

 9  statewide minimum seaport security standards set forth in s.

10  311.12 may require that security officers working on the

11  seaport receive additional training and certification as a

12  seaport security officer.

13         (2)  Any person who has received a Class D license as a

14  security officer pursuant to chapter 493 and successfully

15  completed the entire certified training curriculum for a Class

16  D license, or who has been determined to have equivalent

17  experience by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer

18  Services, is eligible to complete training and testing to

19  become certified as a seaport security officer. As used in

20  this subsection, the term "equivalent experience" means

21  experience that is substantially identical and equal in force,

22  power, and effect or import as the experience gained by

23  personal knowledge and activity for the required period of

24  time performing the type of service permitted under the

25  license for which application is made. The department shall

26  have final authority over any determination of equivalent

27  experience.

28         (3)  The curriculum for the seaport security officer

29  training program shall be developed by the Seaport Security

30  Officer Qualifications, Training, and Standards Steering

31  Committee. The steering committee shall meet at least once

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1062
    583-868C-05




 1  each year to update or modify the curriculum. Members of the

 2  Steering Committee shall be appointed by the Department of Law

 3  Enforcement. Members shall serve for the duration of their

 4  employment or appointment in a specified position, or for a

 5  term of 4 years if not designated by title to a specified

 6  position. The members of the steering committee shall be the

 7  Seaport Administrator of the Department of Law Enforcement,

 8  the Chancellor of the Community College System, the Director

 9  of the Division of Licensing of the Department of Agriculture

10  and Consumer Services, the Administrator of the Florida

11  Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council, two

12  seaport security directors from ports designated in s. 311.09,

13  one director of a state law enforcement academy, one

14  representative of a local law enforcement agency, two

15  representatives of contract security services, one

16  representative of the Division of Driver Licenses of the

17  Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and one

18  representative of the United States Coast Guard.

19         (4)  The Division of Community Colleges within the

20  Department of Education shall be responsible for implementing

21  the curriculum recommendations of the Seaport Security Officer

22  Qualifications, Training, and Standards Steering Committee in

23  order to provide a training program for certified seaport

24  security officers which shall be used by licensed schools

25  pursuant to s. 493.6304. Each instructor providing training

26  must hold a Class DI license pursuant to s. 493.6301. A

27  seaport authority or other organization involved in

28  seaport-related activities may apply to become a licensed

29  school pursuant to s. 493.6304.

30         (5)  The Seaport Security Officer Qualifications,

31  Training, and Standards Steering Committee may consider

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1062
    583-868C-05




 1  training equivalencies that may be substituted for the

 2  required training. These equivalencies must be established and

 3  made known to persons seeking certification in advance of

 4  training. A candidate for certification as a seaport security

 5  officer shall be required to successfully pass a proficiency

 6  examination.

 7         (6)  Persons who successfully complete the training, or

 8  training equivalency, and pass the examination shall receive a

 9  State of Florida Seaport Security Officer Certificate. This

10  certificate authorizes the bearer to represent that he or she

11  is qualified to perform duties specifically required of a

12  seaport security officer. The certificate shall remain valid

13  for the duration of an active Class D license and shall be

14  considered renewed upon proper renewal of the Class D license.

15  The certificate becomes void if the Class D license is revoked

16  or allowed to lapse for more than 1 year. Renewal of

17  certification following revocation or a lapse of longer than 1

18  year of a Class D license requires, at a minimum,

19  reexamination of the applicant.

20         (7)  A State of Florida Seaport Security Officer

21  Certificate may be issued by a school licensed pursuant to s.

22  493.6304 upon a person's successful completion of the training

23  curriculum, proof of any applicable training equivalencies,

24  and passage of a proficiency examination. The certificate

25  shall be provided by the Department of Agriculture and

26  Consumer Services for issuance by the school. A school shall

27  notify the Division of Licensing within the department upon

28  the issuance of each State of Florida Seaport Security Officer

29  Certificate. The notification must include the name and Class

30  D license number of the certificateholder and a copy of the

31  certificate. The department shall place the notification with

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1062
    583-868C-05




 1  the Class D licensee's file. Notification may be made through

 2  an electronic or paper format pursuant to instructions of the

 3  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

 4         (8)  Upon completion of the certification process, a

 5  person holding a Class D license shall be required to apply

 6  for a revised duplicate license pursuant to s. 493.6107(2).

 7  The revised duplicate license must contain language or

 8  markings indicating that the licensee is certified as a

 9  seaport security officer.

10         Section 2.  Section 311.122, Florida Statutes, is

11  created to read:

12         311.122  Trespassing; detention by a certified seaport

13  security officer.--Any Facility Security Officer as designated

14  pursuant to 33 C.F.R. part 105 for each seaport identified in

15  s. 311.09, or any employee or agent holding a Class D or Class

16  G license and certification as a seaport security officer who

17  is designated by the Facility Security Officer to maintain

18  order and provide security within the seaport, who has

19  probable cause to believe that a person is trespassing in a

20  designated restricted access area of a seaport pursuant to s.

21  810.08 or s. 810.09 may take such person into custody and

22  detain him or her in a reasonable manner for a reasonable

23  length of time pending the arrival of a law enforcement

24  officer. Such taking into custody and detention by an

25  authorized person does not render that person criminally or

26  civilly liable for false arrest, false imprisonment, or

27  unlawful detention. If a trespasser is taken into custody, a

28  law enforcement officer shall be called to the scene

29  immediately after the person is taken into custody.

30         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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