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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that criminalizes the harassment of police officers, correctional officers, and first responders on duty.
According to Fox News, “Senate Bill 184 would make it illegal for anyone to harass a police officer, correctional probation officer, firefighter or an emergency medical care provider ‘engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty’ after already receiving a warning not to approach the first responder.”
“I was proud to sign legislation today to ensure law enforcement officers can serve our communities without worrying about harassment from anti-police activists. We will continue to take action to ensure Florida remains the friendliest state in the nation for law enforcement officers,” DeSantis said Friday.
I was proud to sign legislation today to ensure law enforcement officers can serve our communities without worrying about harassment from anti-police activists.
We will continue to take action to ensure Florida remains the friendliest state in the nation for law enforcement… pic.twitter.com/53SEH1II6K
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 12, 2024
The bill contains a section stating people cannot be within 25 feet of a working officer or first responder after receiving a verbal warning.
Per Fox News:
In the bill, harassment is defined as willfully engaging “in a course of conduct directed at a first responder which intentionally causes substantial emotional distress in that first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.”
The bill also specifies that people cannot be within 25 feet of a working first responder after receiving a verbal warning to stay away if they are impeding or interfering with job duties or threatening physical harm.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Thursday that he supports the bill as law enforcement agencies are seeing more “aggressive, dangerous behavior” from people hoping to get a reaction from officers.
“If there’s a car stop, and you want to stand there across the street and film it, man, have at it. But you don’t come up over the deputy’s shoulder or on a car stop, refuse to comply, and try to bait that deputy into doing something,” Chitwood said, according to FOX 35 Orlando.
While he asks that his deputies act professionally, Chitwood added that he will not discipline them for calling a disruptive person a name if it fits their behavior.
Critics of the bill claim it will make filming and documenting instances of police brutality more difficult.
According to Action News Jax, Florida State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) argued the bill is ambiguous.
Action News Jax reports:
The first law (SB 184), makes it a crime to harass first responders and authorizes police, fire, and EMS officials to declare a 25-foot ‘no-go zone’ while they carry out their official duties.
Ignoring the warning and coming too close with the intent to “impede, harass, or threaten” a first responder could result in 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
“You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re at a traffic stop, you’re responding to a call of someone in distress and then you have people come trying to interdict or trying to harass you,” said DeSantis.
But State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) argued the bill is ambiguous.
Nixon contended the removal of language during the legislative session that had explicitly protected the public’s right to film would make it riskier to observe and document police interactions.
James Madison Audits, a former law enforcement officer turned 1st and 2nd Amendment media creator, had this response to the legislation:
WATCH:
What do you think?
