Florida Senate - 2020 SB 834
By Senator Simmons
9-00501-20 2020834__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to emergency alerts; creating s.
3 784.072, F.S.; defining terms; authorizing a local law
4 enforcement agency to activate the emergency alert
5 system and issue a Lockdown Alert to public and
6 private schools and child care facilities under
7 certain circumstances; requiring local law enforcement
8 agencies to create and maintain a list of all public
9 schools, private schools, and child care facilities
10 within their jurisdictions which must be included in
11 the Lockdown Alert; authorizing public or private
12 schools or child care facilities to contact their
13 local law enforcement agencies to verify that they are
14 included on the list or to register for inclusion on
15 the list; requiring a local law enforcement agency to
16 take a private school or child care facility off the
17 list if the school or facility requests that it be
18 taken off the list; requiring the Department of Law
19 Enforcement, in cooperation with the Department of
20 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Department
21 of Transportation, to activate the emergency alert
22 system and issue an Imminent Threat Alert to the
23 public at the request of a local law enforcement
24 agency under certain circumstances; specifying
25 information that must be provided in Imminent Threat
26 Alerts, if available; requiring Imminent Threat Alerts
27 to be disseminated to the public through the emergency
28 alert system and through the use of certain dynamic
29 message signs; providing that the agency responsible
30 for posting the Imminent Threat Alert on the dynamic
31 message sign does not violate this section if certain
32 traffic emergency information is displayed on the sign
33 in lieu of the alert; providing an effective date.
34
35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37 Section 1. Section 784.072, Florida Statutes, is created to
38 read:
39 784.072 Notification of imminent threat to schools and
40 child care facilities or the public; Lockdown Alert; Imminent
41 Threat Alert.—
42 (1) As used in this section, the term:
43 (a) “Child care facility” has the same meaning as in s.
44 402.302.
45 (b) “Imminent Threat Alert” means a notification issued
46 pursuant to subsection (3) which informs the public that an
47 imminent threat exists such that the lives and safety of people
48 are endangered, including, but not limited to, instances in
49 which a person suspected of killing or causing serious bodily
50 injury to another person or assaulting another person with a
51 deadly weapon has fled the scene of the offense.
52 (c) “Lockdown Alert” means a notification issued pursuant
53 to subsection (2) which informs public schools, private schools,
54 and child care facilities that an imminent threat exists,
55 including, but not limited to, instances in which a person
56 suspected of killing or causing serious bodily injury to another
57 person or assaulting another person with a deadly weapon has
58 fled the scene of the offense. The alert advises the schools and
59 facilities to lock their doors and encourages persons in those
60 schools and facilities to remain in lockdown and be vigilant in
61 watching for and reporting any suspicious activity.
62 (d) “Private school” has the same meaning as in s. 1002.01.
63 (2)(a) A local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction
64 over the scene of an incident giving rise to an imminent threat
65 to the public may activate the emergency alert system and issue
66 a Lockdown Alert to all public and private schools and child
67 care facilities it determines are at risk, given their proximity
68 to the incident, including an incident in which all of the
69 following conditions are satisfied:
70 1. A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
71 injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
72 another person.
73 2. The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
74 the scene of the offense.
75 3. The law enforcement agency investigating the offense has
76 determined that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the
77 public safety.
78 (b) For purposes of complying with this subsection, each
79 local law enforcement agency shall create and maintain a list of
80 all public schools, private schools, and child care facilities
81 within its jurisdiction.
82 (c) A public or private school or child care facility may
83 contact local law enforcement agencies to verify that it is
84 included on the list of those that will receive a Lockdown Alert
85 or to register to be included on the list. A local law
86 enforcement agency must take a private school or child care
87 facility off the list if the school or facility requests that it
88 be taken off the list.
89 (3) At the request of a local law enforcement agency, the
90 Department of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with the
91 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the
92 Department of Transportation, must activate the emergency alert
93 system and issue an Imminent Threat Alert to the public when the
94 local law enforcement agency confirms that an imminent threat to
95 the public exists, including, but not limited to, circumstances
96 in which all of the following conditions have been satisfied:
97 (a) A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
98 injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
99 another person.
100 (b) The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
101 the scene of the offense.
102 (c) The law enforcement agency has determined that the
103 suspect poses an imminent threat to the public safety.
104 (4) An Imminent Threat Alert must, to the extent
105 practicable, provide a detailed description of a suspect’s
106 vehicle or other means of escape, the license plate number of
107 the suspect’s vehicle, or any other available information that
108 may assist in averting further harm or in the apprehending of
109 the suspect.
110 (5)(a) An Imminent Threat Alert must be immediately
111 disseminated to the public through the emergency alert system
112 and through the use of the dynamic message signs that are
113 located along the State Highway System.
114 (b) If a traffic emergency arises requiring that
115 information pertaining to the traffic emergency be displayed on
116 a dynamic message sign on a state highway in lieu of an Imminent
117 Threat Alert, the agency responsible for posting the Imminent
118 Threat Alert on the dynamic message sign does not violate this
119 section.
120 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.