Over 400 new police recruits have moved to the state from the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program.
The bill signed back in 2022 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, provides a signing bonus up to $5,000 to incentivize past, current and new recruits to move to the state to help with police shortage.
This year, the program, has given out over 1,000 bonuses, and there’s more. The program covers tuition, fees, and up to $1,000 of eligible education expenses for trainees enrolled in a law enforcement officer basic recruit training program through the creation of the Florida Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship Program.
Offering a reimbursement program to pay for up to $1,000 of equivalency training costs for certified law enforcement officers who relocate to Florida or members of the special operations forces who become full-time law enforcement officers in Florida.
Dependent children of police officers eligible to receive a Family Empowerment Scholarship to attend private schools and provides law enforcement officers who adopt a child from within the state child welfare system with a $10,000 benefit or a $25,000 benefit for adopting a child with special needs.
The money just doesn’t flow to police but also to paramedics, EMTs, and firefighters throughout the state.
“This governor and this state are the most pro-law enforcement anywhere in the country,” said Steve Zona, state president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Zona says the bonuses were a sign that local communities backed the blue after watching some cities and democrats in the state, bad mouth law enforcement during the riots that took place in the summer of 2020.
Over the years, the state has seen a shortage in police officers. Some blame local pensions for not providing enough, going from a traditional pension to a 401k payout. Others blamed moral on city officials who have not been police friendly catering to defund police movements in the state.
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