Florida Department Of Law Enforcement Popular Books

Florida Department Of Law Enforcement Biography & Facts

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 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, the state capital, and has close to 2,000 employees statewide. The department maintains seven regional operations centers, 12 field offices, and seven crime laboratories. 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 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, as well as major drug trafficking crimes. They also provide security for the governor of Florida 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. All investigation into any crimes, including crimes committed by law enforcement can only be initiated by a government agency and all citizen requests will be denied. 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, specified members of the Cabinet, two sheriffs, and one chief of police. 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, 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. 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 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 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, 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, 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. The FDLE recommended that Tony be charged with the felony of "false affidavit perjury." 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 Public Safety Services Investigations & Forensic Science Domestic Security and Investigations Forensic Services Regional Operations Centers and field offices Regional Crime Laboratories Florida Capitol Police The Florida Capitol Police, part of the FDLE, is a uniformed police department in Tallahassee, in charge of security and law enforcement on the grounds of the Florida State Capitol 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 origina.... Discover the Florida Department Of Law Enforcement popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Florida Department Of Law Enforcement books.