Florida Senate - 2014 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 130 Ì5164644Î516464 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Section 30.60, Florida Statutes, is amended to 6 read: 7 30.60 Establishment of neighborhood crime watch programs.— 8 (1) A county sheriff or municipal police department may 9 establish neighborhood crime watch programs within the county or 10 municipality. The participants of a neighborhood crime watch 11 program shall include, but need not be limited to, residents of 12 the county or municipality and owners of businesses located 13 within the county or municipality. 14 (2) The Department of Law Enforcement shall develop a 15 uniform training curriculum for training participants in 16 neighborhood crime watch programs. County sheriffs and municipal 17 police departments shall use the curriculum in training 18 participants of such programs. The training shall address, but 19 need not be limited to, how to recognize and report suspicious 20 or unlawful activity, crime prevention techniques, when a 21 participant in a crime watch program is authorized or expected 22 to assist another person, the unlawful use of force, and conduct 23 that may unreasonably create or escalate a confrontation between 24 a neighborhood watch participant and a person suspected of 25 unlawful activity. 26 Section 2. Section 166.0485, Florida Statutes, is amended 27 to read: 28 166.0485 Establishment of neighborhood crime watch 29 programs.— 30 (1) A county sheriff or municipal police department may 31 establish neighborhood crime watch programs within the county or 32 municipality. The participants of a neighborhood crime watch 33 program shall include, but need not be limited to, residents of 34 the county or municipality and owners of businesses located 35 within the county or municipality. 36 (2) The Department of Law Enforcement shall develop a 37 uniform training curriculum for training participants in 38 neighborhood crime watch programs. County sheriffs and municipal 39 police departments shall use the curriculum in training 40 participants of such programs. The training shall address, but 41 need not be limited to, how to recognize and report suspicious 42 or unlawful activity, crime prevention techniques, when a 43 participant in a crime watch program is authorized or expected 44 to assist another person, the unlawful use of force, and conduct 45 that may unreasonably create or escalate a confrontation between 46 a neighborhood watch participant and a person suspected of 47 unlawful activity. 48 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 776.032, Florida 49 Statutes, is amended to read: 50 776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action 51 for justifiable use of force.— 52 (1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 53 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is 54 immune from criminal prosecution and civil action by the person, 55 personal representative, or heirs of the person, against whom 56 force was used for the use of such force, unless the person 57 against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer, as 58 defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of 59 his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or 60 herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person 61 using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person 62 was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the 63 term “criminal prosecution” includes, with probable cause, 64 arresting, taking into custody, orarresting, detaining in65custody, andcharging or prosecuting the defendant. This 66 subsection does not restrict a law enforcement agency’s 67 authority and duty to fully and completely investigate the use 68 of force upon which an immunity may be claimed or any event 69 surrounding such use of force. 70 Section 4. Section 776.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to 71 read: 72 776.041 Use of force by aggressor.—The justification 73 described in the preceding sections of this chapter, including, 74 but not limited to, the immunity provided for in s. 776.032, is 75 not available to a person who: 76 (1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after 77 the commission of, a forcible felony; or 78 (2) Initially provokes the use of force against himself or 79 herself, unless: 80 (a) Such force is so great that the person reasonably 81 believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great 82 bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable 83 means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is 84 likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant; or 85 (b) In good faith, the person withdraws from physical 86 contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the 87 assailant that he or she desires to withdraw and terminate the 88 use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of 89 force. 90 Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2014. 91 92 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 93 And the title is amended as follows: 94 Delete everything before the enacting clause 95 and insert: 96 A bill to be entitled 97 An act relating to the use of deadly force; amending 98 ss. 30.60 and 166.0485, F.S.; directing the Department 99 of Law Enforcement to develop a uniform training 100 curriculum for county sheriffs and municipal police 101 departments to use in training participants in 102 neighborhood crime watch programs; amending s. 103 776.032, F.S.; providing that a person who is 104 justified in using force is immune from criminal 105 prosecution and civil action initiated by the person 106 against whom the force was used; revising the 107 definition of the term “criminal prosecution”; 108 clarifying that a law enforcement agency retains the 109 authority and duty to fully investigate the use of 110 force upon which an immunity may be claimed; amending 111 s. 776.041, F.S.; providing that any reason, including 112 immunity, used by an aggressor to justify the use of 113 force is not available to the aggressor under 114 specified circumstances; providing an effective date.