Florida Highway Patrol

Florida motorists who have minor car crashes now have a quicker, less expensive way to report them to the state. The highway safety department is hoping its online car crash reporting form helps people comply with a state law requiring accidents to be reported within ten days of happening.

A Florida state trooper fired for writing minor tickets to lawmakers caught speeding is appealing a state commission’s finding that the Highway Patrol was justified in disciplining him. Charles Swindle got his job back recently when his firing was reduced to a 120-hour suspension.

A violation of a Florida highway safety law led to the June arrest of one of America’s Most Wanted. State troopers say it’s not only a lesson for motorists, it also caught a bad guy in the process.

A Florida State Trooper fired after being lenient on state lawmakers caught speeding, could be getting his job back. A hearing officer’s report released on Monday says, the trooper was caught in a "no-win situation" and should be reinstated.

Hearing officer Gregg Morton is recommending for Trooper Charles Swindle’s firing to be reduced to a 15-day suspension without pay. He also said, the Florida Highway Patrol owes Swindle back pay since his March firing.

This week, a state trooper fired from the Florida Highway Patrol had a chance to defend himself at a hearing. The officer’s defense strategy is raising the question of whether lawmakers get free passes when they’re caught breaking the law.

Current and former troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol testified at the hearing, it’s common, unwritten policy to go easy on state lawmakers.

“This goes back to the academy. We were taught in the academy that if you stop a legislator, it would behoove you not to write a ticket,” retired Sgt. Gary Dawson said.

It’s a long-standing unwritten policy among the Florida Highway Patrol not to ticket lawmakers when officers catch them speeding. That’s according to testimony from state troopers during an officer’s wrongful termination hearing on Wednesday.

Six-year veteran Highway Patrolman Charles Swindle was fired in March for writing tickets for offenses people didn’t commit. The charges came after a letter of complaint from a state lawmaker he’d pulled over for speeding on Interstate 10 in November.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers are stepping up their patrol to make sure travelers are wearing their seatbelts. They’ll be cracking down on drivers over the next couple of weeks as part of a national campaign seat-belt enforcement campaign called Click It Or Ticket.

Captain Nancy Rasmussen with the Florida Highway Patrol says this campaign reminds drivers seat belts save lives.

A new campaign is underway to reduce the number hit and run crashes across the state. There’s been an increase in these types of traffic accidents in the past two years. Florida Highway Patrol is hoping to get that number down by educating drivers about their responsibilities through a new campaign launched Monday.

Law enforcement officials have apprehended a wanted felon after he escaped from a Georgia jail on Monday.  

32 year old Demetrius Walden escaped from the Colquitt County Jail on Monday, about 70 miles north east of Leon County. Walden was in custody for violating his probation and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Walden escaped on Monday while on a jail work detail.