Amendment to HB 3: Law Enforcement to Include Correctional Officers

HB 3 passed in July of 2022, and was celebrated on Governor DeSantis’ website as being “the Strongest Law Enforcement Recruitment and Support Initiative in the Nation” (DeSantis, 2022). The fact that correctional officers (COs) and detention deputies (DDs) were excluded from this “landmark” law enforcement bill is a second major reason why The Thin Silver Line Alliance (TTSLA) is heading to Tallahassee. COs and DDs have been calling for equal and fair treatment as the law enforcement officers (LEOs) that serve in the state’s prisons and county jails for years and being excluded from HB3 was the proverbial hair that broke the proverbial camel’s back. The call for equality in this case arose from the fact that COs and DDs across the state were not included anywhere in this new “landmark legislation” and therefore deemed ineligible for any and all of the benefits offered in the bill for LEOs and their families. There does not appear to be any good or logical reason why COs and DDs were left out from receiving the benefits offered to LEOs.

For example, one of the most noteworthy benefits makes an LEO in Florida eligible for a benefit of $25,000 for adopting a child who has special needs or $10,000 for adopting a child who does not have special needs. Clearly, making COs and DDs eligible for this benefit would first and foremost serve the needs of children waiting to be adopted so why not make COs and DDs eligible as well? May God bless these children waiting to be adopted with new families this year.

Other benefits in HB3 include the wellness training Resiliency Behind the Badge taught by Ms. Amberly Prykhodko with a background specifically in training correctional stakeholders to recognize trauma symptoms in themselves, loved ones, and coworkers, but HB3 fails to include COs or DDs as eligible recipients of this benefit? Scholarships for the children of LEOs, recruitment incentives, bonuses, and qualification waivers for veterans that the Corrections profession in Florida could most certainly benefit from especially considering the National Guard has recently been called on to support state prisons. It’s clearly a mistake to exclude COs and DDs and their families from the benefits offered by HB3 and during the 2023 legislative session our leaders need to fix the mistakes made by amending HB3 to include C & S COs and DDs at both the state and county levels.