Bill Text: FL S0514 | 2012 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Public Safety
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-01 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/HB 1227 -SJ 730 [S0514 Detail]
Download: Florida-2012-S0514-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2012 CS for SB 514
By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Dean
578-01864A-12 2012514c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public safety; amending s. 401.465,
3 F.S.; providing that a sworn state-certified law
4 enforcement officer under certain circumstances is not
5 included in the definition of the term “911 public
6 safety telecommunicator”; providing that a sworn
7 state-certified law enforcement officers is not
8 required to complete a public safety telecommunication
9 training program under certain circumstances in order
10 to occasionally perform as a public safety
11 telecommunicator; providing that the application fee
12 and examination fee to take the examination that
13 measures the competency and proficiency in the subject
14 material of a public safety telecommunication program
15 do not apply to a sworn state-certified law
16 enforcement officer who occasionally performs as a
17 public safety telecommunicator; requiring that a sworn
18 state-certified law enforcement officer who fails the
19 examination complete a public safety telecommunication
20 training program before retaking the examination;
21 providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraphs
26 (d) and (j) of subsection (2) of section 401.465, Florida
27 Statutes, are amended, present paragraph (k) of subsection (2)
28 of that section is redesignated as subsection (l), and a new
29 paragraph (k) is added to that subsection, to read:
30 401.465 911 public safety telecommunicator certification.—
31 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
32 (a) “911 public safety telecommunicator” means a public
33 safety dispatcher or 911 operator whose duties and
34 responsibilities include the answering, receiving, transferring,
35 and dispatching functions related to 911 calls; dispatching law
36 enforcement officers, fire rescue services, emergency medical
37 services, and other public safety services to the scene of an
38 emergency; providing real-time information from federal, state,
39 and local crime databases; or supervising or serving as the
40 command officer to a person or persons having such duties and
41 responsibilities. However, the term does not include:
42 1. Administrative support personnel, including, but not
43 limited to, those whose primary duties and responsibilities are
44 in accounting, purchasing, legal, and personnel; or.
45 2. A sworn state-certified law enforcement officer who is
46 selected by the chief executive officer of the law enforcement
47 agency that employs the law enforcement officer and who performs
48 on an occasional or limited basis as a public safety
49 telecommunicator.
50 (2) PERSONNEL; STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION.—
51 (d) The department shall determine whether the applicant
52 meets the requirements specified in this section and in rules of
53 the department and shall issue a certificate to any person who
54 meets such requirements. Such requirements must include the
55 following:
56 1. Completion of an appropriate 911 public safety
57 telecommunication training program;
58 2. Certification under oath that the applicant is not
59 addicted to alcohol or any controlled substance;
60 3. Certification under oath that the applicant is free from
61 any physical or mental defect or disease that might impair the
62 applicant’s ability to perform his or her duties;
63 4. Submission of the application fee prescribed in
64 subsection (3);
65 5. Submission of a completed application to the department
66 which indicates compliance with subparagraphs 1., 2., and 3.;
67 and
68 6. Effective October 1, 2012, passage of an examination
69 approved administered by the department which measures the
70 applicant’s competency and proficiency in the subject material
71 of the public safety telecommunication training program.
72 (j) If a person was employed as a 911 public safety
73 telecommunicator, a sworn state-certified law enforcement
74 officer, or a state-certified firefighter before April 1, 2012,
75 he or she must pass the examination administered by the
76 department which measures the competency and proficiency in the
77 subject material of the public safety telecommunication program,
78 as defined in paragraph (1)(c). Upon passage of the examination,
79 the completion of the public safety telecommunication training
80 program is shall be waived.
81 (k) Upon the passage of the examination approved by the
82 department which measures the competency and proficiency in the
83 subject material of the public safety telecommunication program,
84 a person who is employed as a sworn state-certified law
85 enforcement officer and selected by the chief executive officer
86 of the law enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement
87 officer is not required to complete a public safety
88 telecommunication training program in order to perform on an
89 occasional or limited basis as a public safety telecommunicator.
90 The fees in subsection (3) do not apply to testing under this
91 paragraph. A sworn state-certified law enforcement officer who
92 fails the examination taken under this paragraph must complete
93 the 40-hour public safety telecommunication training program
94 sponsored by the Department of Law Enforcement or complete a
95 public safety telecommunication training program approved by the
96 department before retaking the examination.
97 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.
