Governor Signs Bill

We are happy to announce that Governor Rick Scott has signed our House Bill 875! This has been a tremendous effort on behalf of FASCO and many others. Although FASCO was at the tip of the spear in getting this legislation passed, we did not accomplish this alone. First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for the close corporation and active involvement of Marion Hammer and the NRA in getting this legislation through with unanimous consent. Ms. Hammer has proven to be a true friend and ally to our industry and our gratitude cannot be overstated. I encourage you to contact Ms. Hammer (see her contact information at the bottom of this message) and express your gratitude for her support. Additionally, we would like to thank Senator Jack Latvala and Representative Ritch Workman for their dedication to the bill; these elected officials are friends to our industry and share our passion to make a safer Florida. We would also like to thank the PBA who was public in their support of this bill and testified in committee hearings as openly supporting our efforts. Finally, we would like to thank the members of the Council of Presidents of 493 and the Division of Licensing under the leadership of Director Grea Bevis, who have all been involved in the creation of this legislation for the past three years.

HB 875 defines "critical infrastructure," something not currently done by the state of Florida, and clarifies the licenses needed for a security officer to disarm and detain a suspicious person on a critical infrastructure facility. The current law, as is, does not allow a security officer to do so until a law enforcement officer arrives on scene. HB 875 clearly defines circumstances for detaining an individual and procedures to take this action for a law enforcement. This bill also provides hold harmless language for a law enforcement officer to use in the event that a security officer has unlawfully detained a person on a critical infrastructure facility. The bill goes on to impose severe penalties for habitual offenders of unlicensed activity and to discourage unlicensed and fraudulent activity by making it a crime to impersonate a security officer. The industries, such as ours, governed by Chapter 493 support these measures.

Marion Hammer
Executive Director of Unified Sportsmen of Florida
P.O. Box 1676
Tallahassee, FL 32302
MPHammer1@aol.com

HB 875: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0875

© Copyright 2013. Florida Association of Security Companies. All rights reserved.