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. The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission received a petition on September 9, 2011, for a permanent waiver of subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., from Winter Garden Police Department on behalf of 9 officers for the 2008 and one officer also for the 2010 reporting cycle. Notice of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly Vol. 37, No. 39, on September 30, 2011. 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.
The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the 9 officers did successfully complete the course of fire for the 2008 reporting cycle, however, the firearms instructors who supervised the requalification shoots were not CJSTC certified at the time. Petitioner additionally requests that the requalification of one officer for the 2010 reporting cycle be viewed as in compliance because the officer is a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor and signed his own CJSTC 86A form after successfully completing the mandatory firearms retraining course of fire. Petitioner stated that the agency’s officers would suffer a substantial hardship if their certifications are 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 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 or because a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor signed his own CJSTC 86A form for completing the course of fire for the 2010 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 officers had, in fact, completed the Commission’s course of fire and achieved passing scores. The only deficiency in the officers’ firearms requalification was that the firearms instructors who conducted the mandatory firearms requalifications for Petitioner’s officer had not complied with all administrative aspects of becoming CJSTC certified firearms instructors on the dates that 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 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.