Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1416 By Senator Perry 8-01289A-20 20201416__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to assaults on specified persons; 3 creating s. 341.0611, F.S.; requiring public transit 4 providers to post a specified sign concerning 5 assaulting a transit operator; requiring public 6 transit providers to create and implement a risk 7 reduction program; specifying minimum requirements for 8 such a program; amending s. 784.07, F.S.; revising the 9 reclassification of the offense of assault on 10 specified persons; providing an effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1. Section 341.0611, Florida Statutes, is created 15 to read: 16 341.0611 Transit worker safety.— 17 (1) By January 1, 2021, every public transit provider 18 operating regularly scheduled transit service for the general 19 public shall post in at least one conspicuous place at the 20 entrance of each public transit vehicle a yellow sign with 21 black, bold type no smaller than 48 point containing the 22 following statement: 23 “ATTENTION: ASSAULTING A TRANSIT WORKER IS A FELONY 24 PUNISHABLE BY UP TO 5 YEARS IN PRISON.” 25 (2) By July 1, 2021, every public transit provider 26 operating regularly scheduled transit service for the general 27 public shall create and implement a risk reduction program. At a 28 minimum, each risk reduction program shall include: 29 (a) The deployment of assault mitigation infrastructure and 30 technology on public transit, including barriers to restrict the 31 unwanted entry of individuals and objects into transit 32 operator’s workstations. 33 (b) Conflict de-escalation training for transit operators. 34 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 35 784.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 36 784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers, 37 firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit 38 employees or agents, or other specified officers; 39 reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.— 40 (2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly 41 committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, 42 a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, a railroad 43 special officer, a traffic accident investigation officer as 44 described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law enforcement agency 45 employee who is certified as an agency inspector, a blood 46 alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator while such employee 47 is in uniform and engaged in processing, testing, evaluating, 48 analyzing, or transporting a person who is detained or under 49 arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a traffic infraction 50 enforcement officer as described in s. 316.640, a parking 51 enforcement specialist as defined in s. 316.640, a person 52 licensed as a security officer as defined in s. 493.6101 and 53 wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch or emblem that 54 is visible at all times that clearly identifies the employing 55 agency and that clearly identifies the person as a licensed 56 security officer, or a security officer employed by the board of 57 trustees of a community college, while the officer, firefighter, 58 emergency medical care provider, railroad special officer, 59 traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction 60 enforcement officer, inspector, analyst, operator, law 61 enforcement explorer, parking enforcement specialist, public 62 transit employee or agent, or security officer is engaged in the 63 lawful performance of his or her duties, the offense for which 64 the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows: 65 (a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the 66 second degree to a felonymisdemeanorof the thirdfirstdegree. 67 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.