Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday said he wanted to thank police officers across the state for their hard work over the years.
The governor also gave his official okay to two new laws that protect first responders in a society that he says doesn’t always respect the work of law enforcement.
“We’ve got some strange currents going on in our society right now, that really seeks to delegitimize law enforcement and what they’re doing," DeSantis said during a bill signing ceremony at the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office in St. Augustine.
The first bill, Senate Bill 184, creates space between Florida’s first responders and the general public. Firefighters, EMT’s, and police officers are covered under the law, and it prohibits a person from approaching them while they perform certain tasks. This includes rendering aid or even making an arrest.
“You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re at a traffic stop, you’re responding to a call or someone in distress; then you have people trying to interdict or try to harass you from performing your duty," said DeSantis. "If you do that, we view that as a problem and now you’re going to be held accountable.”
DeSantis warns anyone who breaks this law, could face hefty penalties
The law requires all pedestrians to keep a distance of 25 feet or more from the responding officer or first responder.
Violators of Florida’s new safe-distancing law could face fines up to $500 and spend 60 days in jail.
Opponents have raised concerns that the law could prevent bystanders from capturing video of police officers who may be using unnecessary force. Such videos have been instrumental in holding officers accountable in recent cases throughout the country.
"We want to take away all the rights of our regular citizens."
The second measure comes from Jacksonville House Representative Wyman Duggan, who filed House Bill 601 during this past session.
DeSantis signed the measure into law Friday, limiting what citizen police oversight boards can do. Duggan said the newest law keeps law enforcement from being mistreated by the public.
“They can still meet, they can talk about policy, procedure, training, culture, systemic issues," said Rep. Duggan. "What they cannot do is use them as a vehicle to persecute our law enforcement officers."
Today, the Florida House Judiciary Committee voted to advance House Bill 601 (HB 601), which seeks to disband currently established civilian-run police review boards (CRBs), and remove local authority to create new CRBs. HB 601 will now head to the House Floor.
— ACLU of Florida (@ACLUFL) February 8, 2024
HB 601 keeps citizen review boards established by local governments from investigating alleged police misconduct.
It was a controversial topic during the legislative chamber as majority Democrats voted it down. Rep. Dianne Hart of Tampa, believes the measure strips away Floridians’ right to voice their opinions about police wrongdoing.
“We want to take away all the rights of our regular citizens who we believe should be able to serve on some of these boards as oversight," Hart said during the House Session. "There are no real oversights inside of our prison facilities.”
The distancing provision goes into effect January 1st of 2025. Meanwhile, changes to the state’s 21 citizen police review boards will go into effect this July.