Senate Bill sb7016pb

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    Florida Senate - 2005   (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL)     SPB 7016

    FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Domestic Security





    583-868B-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the certification and duties

  3         of seaport security officers; creating s.

  4         311.121, F.S.; authorizing the seaport

  5         authority or governing board of each seaport to

  6         require that seaport security officers receive

  7         additional training and certification;

  8         providing eligibility requirements for such

  9         certification; creating the Seaport Security

10         Officer Qualifications, Training, and Standards

11         Steering Committee to develop the curriculum

12         for the training program; providing for the

13         membership of the steering committee; requiring

14         the Division of Community Colleges to implement

15         the training curriculum; authorizing the

16         substitution of training equivalencies;

17         requiring an examination; providing

18         requirements for certification renewal;

19         providing requirements for schools that offer

20         training for seaport security officers;

21         creating s. 311.122, F.S.; authorizing a

22         seaport security officer to take into custody

23         any person whom the officer has cause to

24         believe is trespassing in a restricted access

25         area; providing that such officer is not

26         criminally or civilly liable for taking such

27         action; providing an effective date.

28  

29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

30  

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2005   (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL)     SPB 7016
    583-868B-05




 1         Section 1.  Section 311.121, Florida Statutes, is

 2  created to read:

 3         311.121  Qualifications, training, and certification of

 4  licensed security officers working on Florida seaports.--

 5         (1)  Each seaport authority or governing board of a

 6  seaport identified in s. 311.09 which is subject to the

 7  statewide minimum seaport security standards set forth in s.

 8  311.12 may require that security officers working on the

 9  seaport receive additional training and certification as a

10  seaport security officer.

11         (2)  Any person who has received a Class D license as a

12  security officer pursuant to chapter 493 or successfully

13  completed the 40-hour certified training curriculum for a

14  Class D license, or who has been determined to have equivalent

15  experience by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer

16  Services, is eligible to complete training and testing to

17  become certified as a seaport security officer. As used in

18  this subsection, the term "equivalent experience" means

19  experience that is substantially identical and equal in force,

20  power, and effect or import as the experience gained by

21  personal knowledge and activity for the required period of

22  time performing the type of service permitted under the

23  license for which application is made. The department shall

24  have final authority over any determination of equivalent

25  experience.

26         (3)  The curriculum for the seaport security officer

27  training program shall be developed by the Seaport Security

28  Officer Qualifications, Training, and Standards Steering

29  Committee. The steering committee shall meet at least once

30  each year to update or modify the curriculum. Members of the

31  Steering Committee shall be appointed by the Department of Law

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    Florida Senate - 2005   (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL)     SPB 7016
    583-868B-05




 1  Enforcement. Members shall serve for the duration of their

 2  employment or appointment in a specified position, or for a

 3  term of 4 years if not designated by title to a specified

 4  position. The members of the steering committee shall be the

 5  Seaport Administrator of the Department of Law Enforcement,

 6  the Chancellor of the Community College System, the Director

 7  of the Division of Licensing of the Department of Agriculture

 8  and Consumer Services, the Administrator of the Florida

 9  Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council, two

10  seaport security directors from ports designated in s. 311.09,

11  one director of a state law enforcement academy, one

12  representative of a local law enforcement agency, two

13  representatives of contract security services, one

14  representative of the Division of Driver Licenses of the

15  Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and one

16  representative of the United States Coast Guard.

17         (4)  The Division of Community Colleges within the

18  Department of Education shall be responsible for implementing

19  the curriculum recommendations of the Seaport Security Officer

20  Qualifications, Training, and Standards Steering Committee in

21  order to provide a training program for certified seaport

22  security officers which shall be used by licensed schools or

23  other licensed purveyors of security officer training pursuant

24  to s. 493.6304. Each instructor providing training must hold a

25  Class DI license pursuant to s. 493.6301. A seaport authority

26  or other organization involved in seaport-related activities

27  may apply to become a licensed training entity.

28         (5)  The Seaport Security Officer Qualifications,

29  Training, and Standards Steering Committee may consider

30  training equivalencies that may be substituted for the

31  required training. These equivalencies must be established and

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    Florida Senate - 2005   (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL)     SPB 7016
    583-868B-05




 1  made known to persons seeking certification in advance of

 2  training. A candidate for certification as a seaport security

 3  officer shall be required to successfully pass a proficiency

 4  examination.

 5         (6)  Persons who successfully complete the training, or

 6  training equivalency, and pass the examination shall receive a

 7  State of Florida Seaport Security Officer Certificate. This

 8  certificate authorizes the bearer to represent that he or she

 9  is qualified to perform duties specifically required of a

10  seaport security officer. The certificate shall remain valid

11  for the duration of an active Class D license and shall be

12  considered renewed upon proper renewal of the Class D license.

13  The certificate becomes void if the Class D license is revoked

14  or allowed to lapse for more than 1 year. Renewal of

15  certification following revocation or a lapse of longer than 1

16  year of a Class D license requires, at a minimum,

17  reexamination of the applicant.

18         (7)  A State of Florida Seaport Security Officer

19  Certificate may be issued by a school or purveyor of training

20  licensed pursuant to s. 493.6304 upon a person's successful

21  completion of the training curriculum, proof of any applicable

22  training equivalencies, and passage of a proficiency

23  examination. A school or purveyor shall notify the Division of

24  Licensing of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer

25  Services upon the issuance of each State of Florida Seaport

26  Security Officer Certificate. The notification must include

27  the name and Class D license number of the certificateholder

28  and a copy of the certificate. The department shall place the

29  notification with the Class D licensee's file. Notification

30  may be made through an electronic or paper format pursuant to

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2005   (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL)     SPB 7016
    583-868B-05




 1  instructions of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer

 2  Services.

 3         Section 2.  Section 311.122, Florida Statutes, is

 4  created to read:

 5         311.122  Trespassing; detention by a certified seaport

 6  security officer.--Any Facility Security Officer as designated

 7  pursuant to 33 C.F.R. part 105 for each seaport identified in

 8  s. 311.09, or any employee or agent holding a Class D or Class

 9  G license and certification as a seaport security officer who

10  is designated by the Facility Security Officer to maintain

11  order and provide security within the seaport, who has

12  probable cause to believe that a person is trespassing in a

13  designated restricted access area of a seaport pursuant to s.

14  810.08 or s. 810.09 may take such person into custody and

15  detain him or her in a reasonable manner for a reasonable

16  length of time pending the arrival of a law enforcement

17  officer. Such taking into custody and detention by an

18  authorized person does not render that person criminally or

19  civilly liable for false arrest, false imprisonment, or

20  unlawful detention. If a trespasser is taken into custody, a

21  law enforcement officer shall be called to the scene

22  immediately after the person is taken into custody.

23         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

24  

25            *****************************************

26                          SENATE SUMMARY

27    Authorizes seaports in this state to require that seaport
      security officers receive additional training and obtain
28    certification. Provides certification requirements.
      Creates the Seaport Security Officer Qualifications,
29    Training, and Standards Steering Committee to develop the
      curriculum for the training program. Authorizes a seaport
30    security officer to take into custody any person whom the
      officer has cause to believe is trespassing in a
31    restricted access area. (See bill for details.)

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