The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission hereby gives notice:
That on October 27, 2011, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has issued an order.
On September 8 2011, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, received a petition for a permanent waiver of subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., by the Clewiston Police Department on behalf of one officer for the 2008 and 2010 firearms requalification periods. Subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., requires officers to requalify with a firearm every two years under the supervision of a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor on a course of fire mandated by Commission rule. Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly Vol. 37, No. 39, September 30, 2011.
The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the officer is a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor and that he did successfully complete the course of fire, however, the instructor utilized by the Petitioner during the 2006-2008 and 2008-2010 reporting cycles to supervise the officer’s firearms requalification was not a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor. Petitioner stated that the officer will suffer a substantial hardship if his certification is 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 officer did successfully complete the requirement simply because his CJSTC form 86A was not signed by a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor during the 2006 – 2008 (7/1/06 – 6/30/08) and 2008-2010 (7/1/08 – 6/30/10) reporting cycles.
On October 27, 2011, at its regularly scheduled business agenda meeting held in Ponte Vedra, 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 officer had, in fact, completed the Commission’s course of fire and achieved a passing score. The only deficiency in the officer’s firearms requalifications was that the Petitioner’s officer was not supervised by a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor during his requalifications. 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 granted 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 or by telephoning (850)410-7676.