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 3, 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 Washington County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of one deputy for the 2008 firearms requalification period. 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. 33, August 19, 2011.
The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the deputy did successfully complete the course of fire for the 2006-2008 reporting period (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2008), however, the instructor who supervised the deputy’s requalification was not a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor at the time he supervised the requalification shoot. Petitioner states that the deputy will suffer a substantial hardship if his certification is rendered inactive as a result of this situation. Petitioner further states that it would violate the principles of fairness to fail to recognize that the deputy did successfully complete the firearms requalification requirement simply because his instructor had failed to complete the CJSTC Instructor Techniques Course and did not file all paperwork necessary to becoming a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor for the 2008 reporting cycle.
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 deputy had, in fact, completed the Commission’s course of fire and achieved a passing score. The only deficiency in the deputy’s firearms requalification was that the firearms instructor supervising the requalification shoot for the 2008 reporting period was not a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor. 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.