Florida Senate - 2020 CS for SB 834
By the Committee on Infrastructure and Security; and Senator
Simmons
596-02229-20 2020834c1
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; providing immunity from civil
19 liability to certain persons for damages for complying
20 in good faith with specified provisions; providing a
21 presumption of good faith; providing construction;
22 requiring the Department of Law Enforcement, in
23 cooperation with the Department of Highway Safety and
24 Motor Vehicles and the Department of Transportation,
25 to activate the emergency alert system and issue an
26 Imminent Threat Alert to the public at the request of
27 a local law enforcement agency under certain
28 circumstances; specifying information that must be
29 provided in Imminent Threat Alerts, if available;
30 requiring Imminent Threat Alerts to be disseminated to
31 the public through the emergency alert system and
32 through the use of certain dynamic message signs;
33 providing that the agency responsible for posting the
34 Imminent Threat Alert on the dynamic message sign does
35 not violate this section if certain traffic emergency
36 information is displayed on the sign in lieu of the
37 alert; providing immunity from civil liability to
38 certain persons for damages for complying in good
39 faith with specified provisions; providing a
40 presumption of good faith; providing construction;
41 providing an effective date.
42
43 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
44
45 Section 1. Section 784.072, Florida Statutes, is created to
46 read:
47 784.072 Notification of imminent threat to schools and
48 child care facilities or the public; Lockdown Alert; Imminent
49 Threat Alert.—
50 (1) As used in this section, the term:
51 (a) “Child care facility” has the same meaning as in s.
52 402.302.
53 (b) “Imminent Threat Alert” means a notification issued
54 pursuant to subsection (3) which informs the public that an
55 imminent threat exists such that the lives and safety of people
56 are endangered, including, but not limited to, instances in
57 which a person suspected of killing or causing serious bodily
58 injury to another person or assaulting another person with a
59 deadly weapon has fled the scene of the offense.
60 (c) “Lockdown Alert” means a notification issued pursuant
61 to subsection (2) which informs public schools, private schools,
62 and child care facilities that an imminent threat exists,
63 including, but not limited to, instances in which a person
64 suspected of killing or causing serious bodily injury to another
65 person or assaulting another person with a deadly weapon has
66 fled the scene of the offense. The alert advises the schools and
67 facilities to lock their doors and encourages persons in those
68 schools and facilities to remain in lockdown and be vigilant in
69 watching for and reporting any suspicious activity.
70 (d) “Private school” has the same meaning as in s. 1002.01.
71 (2)(a) A local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction
72 over the scene of an incident giving rise to an imminent threat
73 to the public may activate the emergency alert system and issue
74 a Lockdown Alert to all public and private schools and child
75 care facilities it determines are at risk, given their proximity
76 to the incident, including an incident in which all of the
77 following conditions are satisfied:
78 1. A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
79 injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
80 another person.
81 2. The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
82 the scene of the offense.
83 3. The law enforcement agency investigating the offense has
84 determined that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the
85 public safety.
86 (b) For purposes of complying with this subsection, each
87 local law enforcement agency shall create and maintain a list of
88 all public schools, private schools, and child care facilities
89 within its jurisdiction.
90 (c) A public or private school or child care facility may
91 contact local law enforcement agencies to verify that it is
92 included on the list of those that will receive a Lockdown Alert
93 or to register to be included on the list. A local law
94 enforcement agency must take a private school or child care
95 facility off the list if the school or facility requests that it
96 be taken off the list.
97 (d)1. Upon recording, reporting, transmitting, displaying,
98 or releasing information pertaining to a Lockdown Alert, the
99 local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction; the Department
100 of Law Enforcement; any state or local law enforcement agency
101 and the personnel of these agencies; any radio or television
102 network, broadcaster, or other media representative; any dealer
103 of communications services as defined in s. 202.11; or any
104 agency, employee, individual, or entity is immune from civil
105 liability for damages for complying in good faith with this
106 subsection and is presumed to have acted in good faith in
107 recording, reporting, transmitting, displaying, or releasing
108 information pertaining to a Lockdown Alert. The presumption of
109 good faith is not overcome if a technical or clerical error is
110 made by any agency, employee, individual, or entity acting at
111 the request of the local law enforcement agency having
112 jurisdiction, or if information pertaining to a Lockdown Alert
113 is incomplete or incorrect because the information received from
114 the local law enforcement agency was incomplete or incorrect.
115 2. Neither this subsection nor any other law creates a duty
116 of the agency, employee, individual, or entity to record,
117 report, transmit, display, or release the Lockdown Alert
118 information received from the local law enforcement agency
119 having jurisdiction. The decision to record, report, transmit,
120 display, or release information is discretionary with the
121 agency, employee, individual, or entity receiving the
122 information.
123 (3) At the request of a local law enforcement agency, the
124 Department of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with the
125 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the
126 Department of Transportation, must activate the emergency alert
127 system and issue an Imminent Threat Alert to the public when the
128 local law enforcement agency confirms that an imminent threat to
129 the public exists, including, but not limited to, circumstances
130 in which all of the following conditions have been satisfied:
131 (a) A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
132 injury or a person has been assaulted with a deadly weapon by
133 another person.
134 (b) The person suspected of committing the offense has fled
135 the scene of the offense.
136 (c) The law enforcement agency has determined that the
137 suspect poses an imminent threat to the public safety.
138 (4) An Imminent Threat Alert must, to the extent
139 practicable, provide a detailed description of a suspect’s
140 vehicle or other means of escape, the license plate number of
141 the suspect’s vehicle, or any other available information that
142 may assist in averting further harm or in the apprehending of
143 the suspect.
144 (5)(a) An Imminent Threat Alert must be immediately
145 disseminated to the public through the emergency alert system
146 and through the use of the dynamic message signs that are
147 located along the State Highway System.
148 (b) If a traffic emergency arises requiring that
149 information pertaining to the traffic emergency be displayed on
150 a dynamic message sign on a state highway in lieu of an Imminent
151 Threat Alert, the agency responsible for posting the Imminent
152 Threat Alert on the dynamic message sign does not violate this
153 section.
154 (c)1. Upon receiving a request to record, report, transmit,
155 display, or release Imminent Threat Alert information from the
156 law enforcement agency having jurisdiction, the Department of
157 Law Enforcement; any state or local law enforcement agency and
158 the personnel of these agencies; any radio or television
159 network, broadcaster, or other media representative; any dealer
160 of communications services as defined in s. 202.11; or any
161 agency, employee, individual, or entity is immune from civil
162 liability for damages for complying in good faith with this
163 subsection and is presumed to have acted in good faith in
164 recording, reporting, transmitting, displaying, or releasing
165 information pertaining to an Imminent Threat Alert. The
166 presumption of good faith is not overcome if a technical or
167 clerical error is made by any agency, employee, individual, or
168 entity acting at the request of the local law enforcement agency
169 having jurisdiction, or if information pertaining to an Imminent
170 Threat Alert is incomplete or incorrect because the information
171 received from the local law enforcement agency was incomplete or
172 incorrect.
173 2. Neither this subsection nor any other law creates a duty
174 of the agency, employee, individual, or entity to record,
175 report, transmit, display, or release the Imminent Threat Alert
176 information received from the local law enforcement agency
177 having jurisdiction. The decision to record, report, transmit,
178 display, or release information is discretionary with the
179 agency, employee, individual, or entity receiving the
180 information.
181 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.