PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis gave law enforcement across Florida a boost on Friday, when he signed into law a bill to help recruit and retain officers in the state.
“While other parts of the country are mistreating, marginalizing, and defunding law enforcement, in Florida we continue to prioritize and appreciate our law enforcement officers, the Republican governor told reporters in Polk County on April 1. “This legislation encourages Floridians to pursue careers in law enforcement and attracts high-quality law enforcement officers from other states who are sick and tired of the mistreatment they experience to bring their skills to Florida. We are putting our money where our mouth is and we are backing the blue.”
The HB 3 bill was signed in Polk County, home of Florida Sheriff Grady Judd, who is famous for his colorful press conferences with visual aids of criminals he is either looking for or has already apprehended. Today was no exception as he held up a poster with a map of the state, marked “Safe,” and images of what he called Florida’s “A-Team”—Gov. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, House Speaker Chris Sprowls, and Senate President Wilton Simpson.
Then, reaching under the podium, he pulled out an oversized mock-up of a $5,000 bill with DeSantis’ picture on it.
“You think about Washington on the $1 bill, Lincoln on the $5 bill ... well, the governor is on the $5,000 bill,” Judd said as laughter rippled across the room. “That may not seem like a lot of money to some folks, but it’s big money when you’re trying to move across the country to the state of Florida. It’s big money when you’re trying to come where you can really enforce the law and protect the people.”
HB 3 provides signing bonuses of up to $5,000 to newly employed law enforcement officers through the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program. The legislation also covers tuition, fees, and up to $1,000 of eligible education expenses for trainees who are enrolled in a law enforcement officer basic training program through the Florida Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship Program. A reimbursement program will pay up to $1,000 of equivalency training costs for certified law enforcement officers who relocate to the Sunshine State or members of the special operations forces who become full-time law enforcement officers in Florida.
The bill also allows sheriffs budget flexibility to move funds around to do what they need to do for their jobs, the governor said.
The family friendly bill makes provisions for dependent children of officers through the Family Empowerment Scholarship to help send them to private schools. It provides a $10,000 benefit for officers who adopt a child from within the state child welfare system, and a $25,000 benefit for those who adopt a child with special needs.
Sprowls reiterated how the bill incentivizes the recruitment and retention of law enforcement throughout the state.
“If you’re a law enforcement officer, we want you to stay here if you’re serving our families every day,” Sprowls said at the press conference. “We talked about adoption and foster care. What would be a better life and a safer environment for a child who is in need of someone to look up to as a mentor than going into the home of a law enforcement officer.”
Judd told the crowd: if families do not feel safe, “they do not thrive,” and the same goes for the state of Florida.
“We thrive in Florida because of this governor and this legislature,” he said. “People just want to feel safe, and nothing else matters. And who keeps them safe? Law enforcement officers and the partnership with the community.”
