The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission hereby gives notice:
That on November 10, 2011, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, received a petition for a permanent waiver of subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., from Jupiter Island Public Safety Department on behalf of two officers for the 2008-2010 (7/1/2008 – 6/30/2010) mandatory firearms requalification reporting cycle. Subsection 11B-27.00212(14), F.A.C., requires officers to requalify with a firearm every two years on a course of fire mandated by Commission rule and supervised by a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor.
The petition supported the requested waiver by stating that the officers at issue did successfully complete the course of fire, however, the instructor supervising the requalifications was a CJSTC-certified firearms instructor at the time of the requalification and did sign his own CJSTC 86A form. The other officer has no CJSTC 86A form on file for the 2010 reporting period, but did complete the mandatory course of fire. Petitioner states that these officers will 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 did successfully complete the requirement simply because the firearms instructor signed his own CJSTC 86A form and the other officer has no 86A form on file for the 2010 reporting cycle. Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly Vol. 37, No. 47, on November 23, 2011.
On February 2, 2012, pursuant to notice, at its regularly scheduled Business Agenda meeting held in Destin, 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 to be supervised by non-CJSTC-certified firearms instructors. 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 32302 or by telephoning (850)410-7676.