The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission hereby gives notice:
that on June 20, 2011, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, received a petition for a permanent waiver of subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., from the Oakland Police Department. The rule requires officers to requalify with a firearm every two years on a course of fire mandated by Commission rule and administered by Commission-certified firearms instructors. The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the officers for whom the waiver is sought did successfully complete the course of fire, however, the instructors who supervised the mandatory shoots were not fully certified as a CJSTC firearms instructors at the time of the officers’ requalifications. Petitioner stated that the officers will suffer a substantial hardship if their certifications are rendered inactive as a result of this situation. Petitioner further stated that it would violate the principles of fairness to fail to recognize that the officers affected by this situation did successfully complete the requirement simply because their instructors failed to comply with all administrative aspects of firearms instructor certification... Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the F.A.W., Vol. 37, No. 26, July 1, 2011.
On August 11, 2011, at its regularly scheduled business agenda meeting held in Tampa, Florida, the Commission found that the Petitioner’s situation is unique. The Petitioner demonstrated that the strict application of the Commission’s rules in this case would violate the principles of fairness. The Petitioner’s officers had, in fact, completed the Commission’s course of fire and achieved a passing score. The only deficiency in the officers’ firearms requalifications was that the firearms instructor who conducted the mandatory firearms requalifications for Petitioner’s officers had not complied with all administrative aspects of becoming a CJSTC certified firearms instructor on the date he supervised the requalification shoots. The Commission found that the purposes of the underlying statute, to ensure that officers receive adequate and timely retraining, will be met by granting this waiver request. The Commission issued an order granting the Petitioner’s waiver.
A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting:
Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P. O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32327, (850)410-7676.