Florida Senate - 2012                              CS for SB 514
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Dean
       
       
       
       
       578-01864A-12                                          2012514c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public safety; amending s. 401.465,
    3         F.S.; providing that a sworn state-certified law
    4         enforcement officer under certain circumstances is not
    5         included in the definition of the term “911 public
    6         safety telecommunicator”; providing that a sworn
    7         state-certified law enforcement officers is not
    8         required to complete a public safety telecommunication
    9         training program under certain circumstances in order
   10         to occasionally perform as a public safety
   11         telecommunicator; providing that the application fee
   12         and examination fee to take the examination that
   13         measures the competency and proficiency in the subject
   14         material of a public safety telecommunication program
   15         do not apply to a sworn state-certified law
   16         enforcement officer who occasionally performs as a
   17         public safety telecommunicator; requiring that a sworn
   18         state-certified law enforcement officer who fails the
   19         examination complete a public safety telecommunication
   20         training program before retaking the examination;
   21         providing an effective date.
   22  
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraphs
   26  (d) and (j) of subsection (2) of section 401.465, Florida
   27  Statutes, are amended, present paragraph (k) of subsection (2)
   28  of that section is redesignated as subsection (l), and a new
   29  paragraph (k) is added to that subsection, to read:
   30         401.465 911 public safety telecommunicator certification.—
   31         (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   32         (a) “911 public safety telecommunicator” means a public
   33  safety dispatcher or 911 operator whose duties and
   34  responsibilities include the answering, receiving, transferring,
   35  and dispatching functions related to 911 calls; dispatching law
   36  enforcement officers, fire rescue services, emergency medical
   37  services, and other public safety services to the scene of an
   38  emergency; providing real-time information from federal, state,
   39  and local crime databases; or supervising or serving as the
   40  command officer to a person or persons having such duties and
   41  responsibilities. However, the term does not include:
   42         1. Administrative support personnel, including, but not
   43  limited to, those whose primary duties and responsibilities are
   44  in accounting, purchasing, legal, and personnel; or.
   45         2.A sworn state-certified law enforcement officer who is
   46  selected by the chief executive officer of the law enforcement
   47  agency that employs the law enforcement officer and who performs
   48  on an occasional or limited basis as a public safety
   49  telecommunicator.
   50         (2) PERSONNEL; STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION.—
   51         (d) The department shall determine whether the applicant
   52  meets the requirements specified in this section and in rules of
   53  the department and shall issue a certificate to any person who
   54  meets such requirements. Such requirements must include the
   55  following:
   56         1. Completion of an appropriate 911 public safety
   57  telecommunication training program;
   58         2. Certification under oath that the applicant is not
   59  addicted to alcohol or any controlled substance;
   60         3. Certification under oath that the applicant is free from
   61  any physical or mental defect or disease that might impair the
   62  applicant’s ability to perform his or her duties;
   63         4. Submission of the application fee prescribed in
   64  subsection (3);
   65         5. Submission of a completed application to the department
   66  which indicates compliance with subparagraphs 1., 2., and 3.;
   67  and
   68         6. Effective October 1, 2012, passage of an examination
   69  approved administered by the department which measures the
   70  applicant’s competency and proficiency in the subject material
   71  of the public safety telecommunication training program.
   72         (j) If a person was employed as a 911 public safety
   73  telecommunicator, a sworn state-certified law enforcement
   74  officer, or a state-certified firefighter before April 1, 2012,
   75  he or she must pass the examination administered by the
   76  department which measures the competency and proficiency in the
   77  subject material of the public safety telecommunication program,
   78  as defined in paragraph (1)(c). Upon passage of the examination,
   79  the completion of the public safety telecommunication training
   80  program is shall be waived.
   81         (k) Upon the passage of the examination approved by the
   82  department which measures the competency and proficiency in the
   83  subject material of the public safety telecommunication program,
   84  a person who is employed as a sworn state-certified law
   85  enforcement officer and selected by the chief executive officer
   86  of the law enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement
   87  officer is not required to complete a public safety
   88  telecommunication training program in order to perform on an
   89  occasional or limited basis as a public safety telecommunicator.
   90  The fees in subsection (3) do not apply to testing under this
   91  paragraph. A sworn state-certified law enforcement officer who
   92  fails the examination taken under this paragraph must complete
   93  the 40-hour public safety telecommunication training program
   94  sponsored by the Department of Law Enforcement or complete a
   95  public safety telecommunication training program approved by the
   96  department before retaking the examination.
   97         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.