NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on October 28, 2010, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has issued an order.
A Petition for Waiver of paragraphs 11B-35.001(3)(a), (b) and 11B-35.0021(6)(a), F.A.C., was received from Santa Fe Community College and Sgt. Terrence Stevens, on September 21, 2010. Notice of the Petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 40, October 8, 2010. The rule requires high liability instructors to submit certain paperwork, be reviewed by a field specialist, and be entered into the CJSTC’s ATMS database prior to instructing CJSTC firearms classes. Santa Fe Community College hired Sgt. Terrence Stevens, a certified officer who had passed all coursework requirements to become a high liability firearms instructor, and assigned him to teach a firearms course to a basic recruit class without having his administrative paperwork completed. As soon as the school became aware of the deficiency, the CJSTC field representative was called and this rule waiver request was initiated. The Petitioner college stated that Sgt. Stevens met all the requirements for correctly teaching the firearms course at issue, but failed to complete all administrative aspects of certification as outlined in the rule. Sgt. Stevens was at all times qualified to instruct the course, he had only failed to complete administrative acts that would ensure he was fully certified as a firearms instructor.
The Commission found that the Petitioner’s situation is unique. The Petitioner demonstrated that the strict application of the Commission’s rules in this case would violate the principles of fairness resulting in the need to re-qualify many working officers who suffered no disability in training as a result of the failure to complete the administrative aspects of the rule. The Commission found that the purposes of the underlying statute, to ensure that criminal justice training is carried out uniformly throughout all Commission-certified training schools, would be served by permitting a waiver of a clerical, as opposed to tactical training, requirement. Accordingly, the Commission granted Petitioner’s request for a waiver of paragraphs 11B-35.001(3)(a), (b) and 11B-35.0021(6)(a), F.A.C., on October 28, 2010, at its regularly scheduled Business Agenda meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
A copy of the Order may be obtained by contacting: Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P. O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32327, or by telephoning (850)410-7676.