Notice of Variances and Waivers

DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
11B-35.0024: Student Performance in Commission-approved High-Liability Basic Recruit Training Courses and Instructor Training Courses Requiring Proficiency Demonstration
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on February 04, 2010, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has issued an order.
Seminole State College of Florida (hereafter Petitioner) petitioned for a permanent waiver of subparagraph 11B-35.0024(3)(c)2., F.A.C. The rule requires that students in Florida Basic Recruit Training Courses requiring demonstration of proficiencies in firearms to shoot a B-21E target or equivalent in order to successfully complete the firearms component of training. Notice of the Petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 4, January 29, 2010. Petitioner wished to waive the requirement in the rule requiring a B-21E target or equivalent. The Petitioner’s firearms range did not use the B-21E, but did use targets that were marketed by PRIDE as equivalent to the B-21E. Those targets were determined by Commission staff not to be equivalent to the B-21E target. Petitioner wished to waive this rule and have the PRIDE targets that were used by Petitioner until November 9, 2009, deemed to be equivalent to the B-21E target for purposes of this rule section. Petitioner argued that any differences between the targets are minimal and that no officer who qualified on the PRIDE targets was given any advantage by reason of so doing.
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 resulting in the need to requalify many working officers who suffered no disability in training as a result of using the PRIDE targets. The Commission found that the purposes of the underlying statute, to ensure that criminal justice high liability firearms training is carried out uniformly throughout all Commission-certified training schools, would be served by permitting a waiver of the target number requirement. Accordingly, the Commission granted Petitioner’s request for a waiver of subparagraph 11B-35.0024(3)(c)2., F.A.C., on February 4, 2010, at its regularly scheduled Business Agenda meeting in Lake Mary, Florida.
A copy of the Order may be obtained by contacting: Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P. O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, Florida 32327, (850)410-7676.