Lawmakers pass legislation to ban civilian review boards for police officers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida lawmakers have forwarded a bill that abolishes civilian review boards for the actions of individual law enforcement officers.
The legislation grants sheriffs and police departments the capability to appoint civilian boards to review office and department policies and procedures, but not individual complaints or actions of officers.
If the bill is signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, civilian oversight boards must stop convening by July 1, which is when the law would take effect.
The bill passed the Florida Senate Friday 32-0. Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, sponsored the bill, SB 576.
It had already passed the Florida House of Representatives 87-29. Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, filed the House version, HB 601.
Because of an amendment on the Senate floor, the House must vote on the bill again before DeSantis can consider signing it.
It also allows the base pay for sheriffs to raise $5,000.
The change also lets a police chief or sheriff create a committee to cover department policies and procedures, and at least one member must be ex-law enforcement.
The legislation makes no changes to misconduct investigations for employing agencies or regarding criminal investigations arising from officer misconduct allegations.
“When it comes to complaints against law enforcement officers specifically, [the bill] says that these civilian review boards are no longer allowed to be in the state of Florida,” Ingoglia previously said. “It does not make sense, to me and to others that I have spoken, that we have these civilian review boards that are not made up of people who understand the process.”
He said that some areas have the boards and others don’t: “Some of them are very controversial.”
“Officers have a very tough job,” the senator said. “When they leave in the morning, they don’t know if they’re going to return at night. It does not make sense to me that we have people second guessing those decisions, especially if they are already being investigated by internal affairs or by the State’s Attorney’s Office.”
Left-wing group Florida Rising had called the bill “anti-police accountability.”
