The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission hereby gives notice:
That it has issued a final order on October 27, 2011. The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission received a petition from the Margate Police Department on August 4, 2011, requesting a permanent waiver of subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., on behalf of 106 officers.
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. The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the officers did successfully complete the course of fire for the 2008 reporting period, however, the firearms instructors who supervised the requalification shoots were not CJSTC certified at the time. 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 instructors had not completed CJSTC firearms instructor certification prior to supervising the firearm requalifications. Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly Vol. 37, No. 33, on August 19, 2011.
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 firearms instructors who conducted the mandatory firearms requalifications for Petitioner’s officers had not complied with all administrative aspects of becoming CJSTC certified firearms instructors on the date they 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 or by telephoning (850)410-7676.