Law Enforcement

The recent controversy and confusion over immigration enforcement training for Fort Myers police may cost the longtime city attorney Grant Alley his job.

The district police chief explained how he had mistakenly applied for a program that aids federal immigration agents. The application is no longer being considered.

The immigration agency had listed Lake Placid, New York, as having signed a 287(g) pact. It was actually the city in Highlands County. The mistake was eventually corrected, but not without some confusion.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has directed state law enforcement officials to assist Miami Beach and other cities with resources and personnel through April.

The city will tripling the amount of officers on patrol and beach sweeps with police on horseback.

The governor said he was announcing a “boater freedom initiative” that would change laws permitting inspections and searches under the justification of safety checks.

State leaders are seeking greater cooperation between local law enforcement and immigration agencies. Immigrant advocates warn that trust between police and the communities they protect will erode.

First responders make up 1.4% of Florida’s workforce, but their suicide rate is more than two times higher than other working-age Floridians. The 2nd Alarm Project deploys teams to communities to help.

Some national law enforcement agencies and policing experts say a PIT maneuver performed that night — such as the one that lead to the deaths of four teenagers in Alachua County — is anything but proper.

The court's decision – involving a citizen who accused the Citrus County Sheriff's Office of misconduct – is the latest to provide new mechanisms for civilian oversight of law enforcement, even as others were curtailed in recent days by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature.

The course would be developed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs.

Should law enforcement officers be able to claim Marsy's Law victim privacy protections if they’re threatened with violence while on the job? That’s the question before state lawmakers in a new legislative proposal. It's a response to a recent Florida Supreme Court that says, no.