Florida Senate - 2021 SB 942 By Senator Gibson 6-00952A-21 2021942__ Page 1 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1

An act relating to law enforcement agency standards; 2 creating s. 943.2555, F.S.; requiring the Department 3 of Law Enforcement to adopt rules setting out minimum 4 requirements for policies of law enforcement agencies; 5 specifying areas that must be addressed by such 6 policies; creating s. 943.2556, F.S.; requiring the 7 department to create a model procedures document for 8 law enforcement agencies; specifying requirements for 9 the model procedures document; providing an effective 10 date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14

Section

Section 943.2555, Florida Statutes, is created 15 to read: 16 943.2555 Adoption of minimum requirements for law 17 enforcement agency policies.—The department shall adopt rules 18 establishing minimum requirements for the policies of agencies 19 employing law enforcement officers, as defined in s. 943.10, 20 applicable to at least all of the following areas: 21

(1) Demilitarization. 22

(2) Use of force. 23

(3) Intelligence-led policing. As used in this subsection, 24 the term “intelligence-led policing” means the cultivation and 25 dissemination of strategic, operational, and tactical 26 intelligence assessments to identify, quantify, and target key 27 criminals for investigation and prosecution. 28

(4) Officer qualifications, compensation, and hiring and 29 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 942 6-00952A-21 2021942__ Page 2 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. termination proceedings. 30

(5) Police canine unit operations, including: 31 (

a) Ensuring that use of a canine to intimidate or harass a 32 person who is already subdued or in custody is considered an 33 excessive use of force. 34 (

b) Minimum standards for creation, use, and maintenance of 35 a canine unit. 36

(6) Minimum training standards addressing: 37 (

a) Use of force. 38 (

b) Duty to intervene. 39 (

c) Use of neck restraints. 40

(7) Revocation of an officer’s certification or placing a 41 limitation on his or her authority as a consequence of an 42 unauthorized use-of-force incident. Such limitation may include: 43 (

a) Mandating the suspension or revocation of a law 44 enforcement officer’s certification if certain criteria are met, 45 such as his or her involvement in a specified number of unlawful 46 use-of-force incidents within a certain period, or an unlawful 47 use of force that resulted in a fatality; or 48 (

b) Mandating a period of time during which an officer with 49 a specified number of unlawful use-of-force incidents occurring 50 during a specified timeframe must perform only duties that do 51 not involve interaction with the public and receive anger 52 management counseling. 53

Section

Section 943.2556, Florida Statutes, is created 54 to read: 55 943.2556 Model procedures.—The department shall create a 56 model procedures document for law enforcement agencies which 57 include all of the following: 58 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 942 6-00952A-21 2021942__ Page 3 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

(1) Addresses use of neck restraints, including: 59 (

a) Prohibiting the use of chokeholds by any law 60 enforcement officer; 61 (

b) Prohibiting the placement of a knee on the neck of a 62 suspect by any law enforcement officer; and 63 (

c) Authorizing the use of lateral vascular neck restraints 64 by a law enforcement officer who has received annual retraining 65 and semiannual demonstration of proper technique. 66 (2)(

a) Prohibits the use of no-knock warrants by law 67 enforcement agencies and officers for misdemeanor offenses or 68 minor drug offenses; 69 (

b) Requires that the head of a law enforcement agency 70 personally attest in writing that the use of a no-knock warrant 71 is the only way to refine a suspect to get needed information, 72 is the safest course of action for law enforcement officers, is 73 extremely unlikely to result in harm to an innocent person, and 74 is unlikely to cause harm to an unsought individual; and 75 (

c) Requires that a no-knock warrant be executed under the 76 personal supervision of the head of the law enforcement agency. 77

(3) Provides requirements for the use of or requires the 78 elimination of jump-out tactics and squads. 79

(4) Includes a standardized use-of-force policy with a 80 statewide matrix of circumstances in which use of force is 81 authorized. 82

(5) Includes policies concerning pursuit of fleeing 83 suspects, which must include: 84 (

a) Specifying circumstances that allow an officer to 85 pursue a fleeing driver; 86 (

b) Minimizing risk in densely populated communities; 87 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 942 6-00952A-21 2021942__ Page 4 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (

c) Authorizing pursuit of a felon only when the pursuing 88 officer is reasonably certain that apprehension of the felon 89 will prevent further physical harm to other persons or himself 90 or herself, and requiring a pursuing officer to end pursuit if 91 significant property damage or harm to persons seems probable; 92 and 93 (

d) Authorizing pursuit of a misdemeanant only if the 94 officer is reasonably certain to apprehend the misdemeanant 95 without damage to property or harm to other persons. 96 97 The inclusion of policies in the document must be guided by the 98 principle that protecting an innocent person is more important 99 than punishing a guilty person. 100

(6) Provides for notification of next of kin. 101

(7) Requires a law enforcement officer to make a statement 102 concerning a use-of-force incident within 24 hours after the 103 conclusion of the use-of-force incident. 104

Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021. 105