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 August 1, 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 Graceville Police Department on behalf of eight officers for the 2008 and 2010 firearms requalification periods. Subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., requires officers to requalify with a firearm under the supervision of a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor every two years 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. 31, on August 19, 2011.
The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the eight officers did successfully complete the course of fire, however, the instructor was not an active CJSTC-certified firearms instructor at the time of the requalifications for the 2006-2008 (7/1/06 – 6/30/08) and 2008-2010 (7/1/08 – 6/30/10) mandatory requalification periods. Petitioner stated that the agency’s 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 instructor was not an active CJSTC-certified firearms instructor at the time that he supervised the mandatory requalifications.
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 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 Petitioner’s officers were not supervised by a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor during requalifications for the 2008 and 2010 reporting cycles. 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.