Florida Department of Law Enforcement
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities and procedures are mandated through Chapter 943, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 11, Florida Administrative Code. FDLE is headed by a commissioner (executive director) who reports to the Florida Cabinet, which is composed of the governor, the attorney general, the chief financial officer and the commissioner of agriculture. The commissioner is appointed to his position by the governor and cabinet and confirmed by the Florida Senate. The department is headquartered in
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
, the
state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...
, and has close to 2,000 employees statewide. The department maintains seven regional operations centers, 12 field offices and seven
crime lab A crime laboratory, often shortened to crime lab, is a scientific laboratory, using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases. Lab personnel A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel: *Field ana ...
oratories.


Overview

FDLE's five "program areas" are: * Executive Direction and Business Support Program, * Criminal Investigations and Forensic Science Program, * Florida Capitol Police Program, * Criminal Justice Information Program, and * Criminal Justice Professionalism Program. The FDLE has earned accreditation from the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) is a credentialing authority (accreditation), based in the United States, whose primary mission is to accredit public safety agencies, namely law enforcement agencies, trai ...
, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors / Laboratory Accreditation Board, and the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation. FDLE Special Agents handle a wide variety of crimes and assist local police and sheriff's offices with limited resources, to include, homicide, public official misconduct,
police misconduct Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: coerced false confession, intimidation, false arrest, false impri ...
, as well as major drug trafficking crimes. They also provide security for the
governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and his or her family. FDLE is the State of Florida's investigative arm. They are considered more of a state police than Florida's highway patrol, which specializes in traffic enforcement and vehicle-related homicide.


History

In 1967, the Florida Legislature merged the duties and responsibilities of several state criminal justice organizations to create the Bureau of Law Enforcement. Bringing together the resources of the Florida Sheriffs Bureau, the State Narcotics Bureau, and the law enforcement activities of the Anti-Bookie Squad of the Florida Attorney General's Office, the original Bureau of Law Enforcement had 94 positions and a $1.5 million budget for its first year of operation. The bureau was headed by a commissioner who reported to a board composed of the
Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, specified members of the Cabinet, two sheriffs, and one
chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...
. The agency had five divisions: Administration, Intelligence and Investigation, Technical Services, Administrative Intelligence, and Planning and Research. As a result of Florida governmental restructuring in July 1969, the bureau became the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, or FDLE. As a department of the
executive branch of government The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...
, FDLE was headed by the governor and cabinet. The FDLE commissioner was appointed by the governor with the approval of three members of the cabinet and subject to confirmation by the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...
. At the time, the department consisted of four divisions – Operations, Administrative Intelligence, Criminal Identification and Information, and Training and Inspection. The agency permanently decentralized many services offered previously only through Headquarters, and rolling them out to the newly defined Regional Operations Centers (ROC). They assumed responsibility for
human resource Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...
and business functions and began to offer information systems support, training, and increased analytical assistance directly to the surrounding region. The restructuring placed authority at the regional level, with members of the ROCs reporting to a regional director (special agent in charge) instead of the
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
headquarters. The traditional investigative role of the ROCs expanded significantly, allowing them to offer more specialized assistance. In July 1990, FDLE was the first state law enforcement agency in the nation to be accredited by the CALEA. The agency successfully attained CALEA reaccreditation status in 1995, 2000, 2003, and 2006. In October 1996, FDLE was the first statewide law enforcement agency to be accredited by the CFA. The agency was jointly reaccredited in 2000, 2003, and 2006 by both the CALEA and CFA. FDLE also received initial accreditation by ASCLD/LAB in 1990, and has achieved reaccreditation during each subsequent five-year reaccreditation period. In the late 1990s, FDLE's Executive Policy Board was formally organized. Composed of program directors, regional special agents in charge, and other headquarters leadership, the EPB provides a frequent forum for the review of department-wide issues and policy-level decision making. In 2000, the legislature transferred the Division of Public Assistance Fraud from the auditor general to FDLE. The following year, the Department of Community Affairs' Office of Criminal Justice Grants was legislatively transferred to FDLE. Following the events of
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, FDLE assumed responsibility as the state's domestic security coordinator and partnering with Florida Sheriffs to lead the state's seven Regional Domestic Security Task Forces. The
Florida Capitol Police The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of Florida. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities and ...
, with its responsibility for providing law enforcement and security services to the state Capitol, was legislatively transferred to FDLE in 2002. In June 2022, an FDLE investigation found that Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony had in February 2019 provided false information on an application for a
driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...
. The FDLE recommended that Tony be charged with the
felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
of "false affidavit
perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
." That was one count, of a total of eight, leveled against Tony for “Unlawful Acts in Relation to Driver License.”


Organization

Headquartered in Tallahassee, the FDLE employs nearly 2,000 members statewide who work at headquarters, the department's seven regional operations centers, 15 field offices, and seven crime laboratories.


Headquarters

Office of Executive Director * Executive investigations * General counsel * Inspector general * Legislative affairs * External affairs Public Safety Services * Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) * Business Support Program * Professionalism Program * Information Technology Services * Florida Capitol Police Investigations & Forensic Science * Domestic Security and Investigations * Forensic Services


Regional Operations Centers and field offices

* Ft. Myers Operations Center with Sarasota and Sebring * Jacksonville Operations Center with Gainesville and St. Augustine * Miami Operations Center with Key West and West Palm Beach * Orlando Operations Center with Ft. Pierce, and Melbourne * Pensacola Operations Center with Panama City. * Tallahassee Operations Center with Live Oak * Tampa Bay Operations Center with Brooksville and Lakeland


Regional Crime Laboratories

* Ft. Myers * Jacksonville * Orlando * Pensacola * Tallahassee * Tampa


Florida Capitol Police

The Florida Capitol Police, part of the FDLE, is a uniformed police department in
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
, in charge of security and law enforcement on the grounds of the
Florida State Capitol The Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, is an architecturally and historically significant building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Capitol is at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and South ...
and various other state government buildings.


History

The Capitol Police was created by the Florida Legislature and began service in 1973 as a plainclothes security force created. Originally known as Legislative Security, it operated under the Florida Department of General Services (DGS). The first director was Florida Highway Patrol Captain Nathan Sharron, and the original administrative offices were in the Larson Building, with security operations office in a few small offices in the Senate Office Building. In 1973, Legislative Security employed 20 members, including security officers and a handful of plainclothes law enforcement officers, known as special agents. It had the only
explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
unit in the Big Bend area. In 1978, two years after the new Capitol building was completed, Legislative Security moved its operations and administrative offices into the new building. In 1983, legislation changed the name from Legislative Security to the Division of Safety and Crime Prevention. The director at that time was James McPherson, formerly of the State Beverage Agency. The uniformed police became more highly visible and members were assigned to various state buildings besides the Capitol. Responsibilities increased and included the Capitol Complex as a whole, state buildings, and state facilities in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
, Tampa, and 11 other cities known as Regional Service Centers. In 1985, the Florida Legislature mandated that the Division of Safety and Crime Prevention provide training and safety courses to other state agencies at their request. They were also mandated to develop and conduct evacuation procedures for the Capitol. During the early 1990s, the department became the Capitol Police. McPherson retired in 1995, and was succeeded by Colonel Timothy Kerns as director. Kerns retired in 1998, and was succeeded by Terry Meek, a former FDLE special agent. After the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
,
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...
placed the Capitol Police under the direction of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The new director was Scotty Sanderson, former FDLE Director of Mutual Aid. Security at the Capitol was elevated, magnetometers and
x-ray machine An X-ray machine is any machine that involves X-rays. It may consist of an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector. Examples include: *Machines for medical projectional radiography *Machines for computed tomography *Backscatter X-ray machines, used ...
s were used to screen all visitors, and additional state law enforcement officers were assigned to the Capitol. In 2002, the Florida Capitol Police were officially transferred to the FDLE under House Bill 1407, with sworn law enforcement officers across the state relocated to Tallahassee. Today the primary responsibility of Capitol Police is to protect the security of the governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the members of the
Florida Cabinet The Florida Cabinet is a body of the government of Florida comprising the attorney general, the commissioner of agriculture, and the chief financial officer that engages in the collective governance of the state. History Created following Recons ...
, the members of the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...
and the Florida House of Representatives, and all employees assigned to assist such state officials in the performance of their official duties and provide security and protection for other state officials, employees, and visitors to the Capitol Complex.


Units

Units of the Florida Capitol Police include: *Operations **Patrol: Units patrolling the Capitol Building, Holland Building, Pepper Building, and the Capital Circle Office Center. **Communications Section: Responsible for answering and initiating all calls for police and security services at the Capitol and other facilities within the Capitol Complex, with seven full-time staff members and one supervisor. **Directed Patrol Team: A six-member team which operates primarily on bicycles. *Special Operations **Investigations: Consisting of one
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
, two sworn investigators, and one government analyst, responsible for all investigations that occur at the Capitol Complex. **Hazardous Devices: Created in 1974, it was the first squad in the North Florida area to become a fully equipped unit, the first to deploy a bomb robot, and the first to be accredited by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
Bomb Data Center. **K-9: The K-9 unit has two explosive detection canine teams. *Special assignments **Special Operations Team (SOT): A ten-member team. Established in 2003 with five members as the Critical Incident Team (CIT) to bridge the gap between the occurrence of a critical incident and arrival of the Leon County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team. **Protective Operation Section: Eight officers providing protective services to members of either of the houses of the legislature. **
Honor Guard A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...
: Consisting of four officers and a sergeant.


Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission

The
Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission The Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission (CJSTC), established in 1967 under ''Florida Statutes'', Chapter 943, is a Florida state commission. The Commission's mission is "To ensure that all citizens of Florida are served by cr ...
(CJSTC), established in 1967 under ''
Florida Statutes The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
'', Chapter 943, is a Florida state commission. The Commission's mission is "To ensure that all citizens of Florida are served by
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
officers who are ethical, qualified, and well-trained." It is part of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It has a number of primary responsibilities. One of them, among other things, is to establish minimum standards for the employment and training of law enforcement and correctional officers. A second responsibility is to certify officers. A third responsibility is to review and administer administrative sanctions where there is a violation of ''Florida Statutes'' and Commission standards. A fourth responsibility it to maintain records of all certified officers.William G. Doerner, Charles W. Rushing (2003)
''Study Guide for the Florida Correction Officer's Examination Certification''
/ref>


Notable FDLE members

*
Dayle Hinman Dayle Hinman (born September 21, 1952) is a retired, FBI-trained criminal profiler. She starred in a television series on TruTV (earlier known as CourtTV). The program, ''Body of Evidence: From the case files of Dayle Hinman'', documented some ...
* Antonio J. Pineda


Fictional members

* Jim Longworth * Lex Rogers


See also

*
State Bureau of Investigation A state bureau of investigation (SBI) is a state-level detective agency in the United States. They are plainclothes agencies which usually investigate both criminal and civil cases involving the state and/or multiple jurisdictions. They also typ ...
*
List of law enforcement agencies in Florida This is a list of Law Enforcement Agencies in the state of Florida. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2018 ''Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,'' the state had 373 law enforcement agencies employing 47,177 swo ...
*
List of U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies This is a list of U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies — local, regional, special and statewide government agencies (state police) of the U.S. states, of the federal district, and of the territories that provide law enforcement dut ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Department Of Law Enforcement State agencies of Florida State law enforcement agencies of Florida Government agencies established in 1969 1969 establishments in Florida