Florida Senate - 2015 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 372
Ì526792EÎ526792
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/23/2015 .
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The Committee on Criminal Justice (Bradley) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraphs (f) and (g) are added to subsection
6 (3) of section 914.28, Florida Statutes, subsections (4), (5),
7 and (7) of that section are amended, present subsection (8) of
8 that section is redesignated as subsection (12) and amended, and
9 new subsections (8) through (11) are added to that section, to
10 read:
11 914.28 Confidential informants.—
12 (3) A law enforcement agency that uses confidential
13 informants shall:
14 (f) Adopt policies and procedures that provide reasonable
15 protective measures for confidential informants when a law
16 enforcement agency knows or should have known of a risk or
17 threat of harm to a person serving as a confidential informant
18 and the risk or threat of harm is a result of his or her service
19 to the law enforcement agency.
20 (g) Provide prospective and current confidential informants
21 who are known to be substance abusers or to be at risk for
22 substance abuse with information on substance abuse treatment
23 options that may be available in their community or region.
24 (4) A law enforcement agency that uses confidential
25 informants shall establish policies and procedures addressing
26 the recruitment, control, and use of confidential informants.
27 The policies and procedures must state the:
28 (a) Information that the law enforcement agency shall
29 maintain concerning each confidential informant;
30 (b) General guidelines for the management and safety of
31 handling confidential informants;
32 (c) Process to advise a confidential informant of
33 conditions, restrictions, and procedures associated with
34 participating in the agency’s investigative or intelligence
35 gathering activities;
36 (d) Designated supervisory or command-level review and
37 oversight in the use of a confidential informant;
38 (e) Limits or restrictions on off-duty association or
39 social relationships by agency personnel involved in
40 investigative or intelligence gathering with confidential
41 informants;
42 (f) Guidelines to deactivate confidential informants,
43 including guidelines for deactivating communications with
44 confidential informants; and
45 (g) Training requirements that agency personnel must
46 complete in order to recruit and manage confidential informants
47 which are consistent with national law enforcement standards
48 Level of supervisory approval required before a juvenile is used
49 as a confidential informant.
50 (5) A law enforcement agency that uses confidential
51 informants shall establish policies and procedures to assess the
52 suitability of using a person as a confidential informant which,
53 at a minimum, consider all of by considering the minimum
54 following factors:
55 (a) The person’s age, and maturity, and experience to serve
56 as a confidential informant.;
57 (b) The risk the person poses to adversely affect a present
58 or potential investigation or prosecution.;
59 (c) The effect upon agency efforts that the disclosure of
60 the person’s cooperation may have on the agency’s investigative
61 or intelligence gathering activities. in the community may have;
62 (d) Whether the person is a substance abuser or has a
63 history of substance abuse. or is in a court-supervised drug
64 treatment program;
65 (e) The risk of physical harm to the person, his or her
66 immediate family, or close associates as a result of providing
67 information or assistance, or upon the disclosure of the
68 person’s assistance. to the community;
69 (f) Whether the person has shown any indication of
70 emotional instability or, unreliability, or of furnishing false
71 information.;
72 (g) The person’s criminal history or prior criminal
73 record.; and
74 (h) Whether the use of the person is may be necessary
75 important to or vital to the success of an investigation.
76 (7) A state or local law enforcement agency that uses
77 confidential informants shall perform a periodic review of
78 actual agency confidential informant practices to ensure
79 conformity with the agency’s policies and procedures and this
80 section.
81 (8) A law enforcement agency that enlists a person to be a
82 confidential informant shall inform the person of the right to
83 consult with a legal counsel before entering into a Substantial
84 Assistance Agreement to serve as a confidential informant.
85 However, the agency may advise the prospective confidential
86 informant that he or she may waive the right to consult with
87 legal counsel before entering into the Substantial Assistance
88 Agreement, and he or she may serve as a confidential informant
89 without consulting with legal counsel if such waiver is
90 documented.
91 (9)(a) A person who is younger than 18 years of age may not
92 participate in a controlled buy or sale of contraband or related
93 activities without the written consent of a parent or legal
94 guardian, but may provide confidential information to a law
95 enforcement agency.
96 (b) A person who is receiving inpatient substance abuse
97 treatment or outpatient substance abuse treatment from a
98 licensed service provider pursuant to ch. 394 may not
99 participate in a controlled buy or sale of contraband or related
100 activities, but may provide confidential information to a law
101 enforcement agency while receiving substance abuse treatment. A
102 person who is under the jurisdiction of a drug court or
103 participating in a drug court program may not participate in a
104 controlled buy or sale or related activities without the consent
105 of the state attorney assigned to the drug court program. If a
106 law enforcement agency believes that a drug court participant
107 has violated any drug court rules, the law enforcement agency
108 shall promptly report the participant to the state attorney
109 assigned to the drug court.
110 (10) A law enforcement agency that uses confidential
111 informants shall collect and report data that includes the
112 information required by paragraphs (a)—(h). The Department of
113 Law Enforcement shall develop and disseminate a standardized
114 form that must be completed by every law enforcement agency that
115 uses confidential informants. A law enforcement agency that uses
116 confidential informants shall collect such data for the
117 preceding calendar year and report it by March 1 of each year to
118 the department. Upon receipt of the completed forms, the
119 department shall compile the data and, by each June 1, issue a
120 publicly available report on paragraphs (a)-(h). The data and
121 report may not include categories of active confidential
122 informants compiled by race, ethnicity, gender, and zip code or
123 disclose the identity of a confidential informant, but must
124 include all of the following information:
125 (a) The number of active confidential informants.
126 (b) The ages of active confidential informants.
127 (c) The number of confidential informants used to conduct
128 controlled buys or sales of contraband, or related activities
129 conducted on behalf of the agency.
130 (d) The number of deaths of confidential informants which
131 occurred during controlled buys or sales of contraband, or
132 related activities conducted on behalf of the agency.
133 (e) The number of injuries to confidential informants that
134 occurred during controlled buys or sales of contraband, or
135 related activities conducted on behalf of the agency.
136 (f) The number of deaths of confidential informants whose
137 cause of death may be related to their service as a confidential
138 informant.
139 (g) The number of injuries to confidential informants whose
140 cause of injury may be related to their service as a
141 confidential informant.
142 (h) The total amount of cash payments provided to a
143 confidential informant by the agency.
144 (11) A law enforcement officer, or a person designated as
145 support personnel as defined in s. 943.10(11), who willfully
146 fails to comply with this act commits culpable negligence as
147 provided in s. 782.07(1) or s. 784.05(1).
148 (12)(8) The provisions of This section and policies and
149 procedures adopted pursuant to this section do not grant any
150 right or entitlement to a confidential informant or a person who
151 is requested to be a confidential informant, and any failure to
152 abide by this section may not be relied upon to create any
153 additional right, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law
154 by a defendant in a criminal proceeding.
155 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2015.
156
157 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
158 And the title is amended as follows:
159 Delete everything before the enacting clause
160 and insert:
161 A bill to be entitled
162 An act relating to confidential informants; amending
163 s. 914.28, F.S.; requiring a law enforcement agency
164 that uses confidential informants to adopt policies
165 and procedures providing reasonable protective
166 measures; requiring such agencies to provide certain
167 prospective and current confidential informants with
168 information on substance abuse treatment options that
169 may be available; requiring that the policies and
170 procedures provide general guidelines for the
171 management and safety of confidential informants and
172 training requirements for certain agency personnel;
173 revising factors used in assessing a person’s
174 suitability as a confidential informant; requiring a
175 law enforcement agency that solicits a person to act
176 as a confidential informants to provide them with the
177 opportunity to consult with legal counsel before
178 signing a Substantial Assistance Agreement;
179 authorizing such agencies to advise prospective
180 confidential informants that they may waive that
181 right; prohibiting a person under 18 years of age from
182 participating in certain activities without written
183 parental or guardian consent; allowing such person to
184 provide confidential information to a law enforcement
185 agency; prohibiting a person who is receiving certain
186 substance abuse treatment from participating in
187 certain activities; allowing such person to provide
188 confidential information to a law enforcement agency;
189 prohibiting a person who is under the jurisdiction of
190 a drug court program from participating in certain
191 activities without the consent of the state attorney
192 assigned to the drug court program; requiring a law
193 enforcement agency to report a drug court participant
194 it believes has violated any drug court rules to the
195 state attorney; requiring a law enforcement agency to
196 annually collect and submit confidential informant
197 data to the Department of Law Enforcement; prohibiting
198 such data from disclosing certain information;
199 specifying information required to be submitted to the
200 department; requiring the department to make such data
201 publicly available by a specified date; providing
202 penalties; providing an effective date.