JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is waiting to see if a bill is signed that it believes would offer more protection to first responders, while a community activist group doesn’t see it the same way.
The bill passed both chambers in March and it makes it illegal for anyone to harass first responders after they’ve given you a warning to back up. Once that warning is given, the bill would require you to step back 25 feet.
If the person doesn’t step back, they could receive a fine of up to $500 or two months in jail.
FOP president Steve Zona said they are ‘excited’ about the bill because they helped craft it.
“[The FOP] nicknamed it ‘The Halo Bill’. It’s to put a halo around our first responders. Whether it’s firefighters on a fire scene or crash or police officers investigating something we have felt, we’ve seen it’s gotten out of hand,” Zona said.
News4JAX spoke with Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), a local community activist group, who is opposed to the bill because they think it would take away transparency that’s needed to gain the public trust.
“I do not think something like this is needed to keep first responders safe when doing their job whatsoever,” Monique Sampson, an organizer with JCAC said. “People videoing first responders doing their job is not putting them in danger at all, it’s in fact strengthening the accountability for our first responders.”
Sampson talked about the bystander who recorded the George Floyd incident.
“That bystander recorded that video footage that then sparked a rebellion, and then sparked an arrest and conviction, of Derek Chauvin was about five feet away. So she was able to video what was happening and give the public a perspective and honestly, I think if we did not have that video, the George Floyd case would look very different today,” Sampson said.
Chris Fallgatter is a former federal prosecutor and he said there may be some problems for certain aspects of the bill to stick legally.
“The one thing that is really going to be hard to enforce is ‘harassing the responder’. What does that mean? I’m taking pictures of what he’s doing, he doesn’t like it. How is that causing emotional distress--on the officer which is one of the elements and it has to be with intent to do that. How are you going to prove that person’s intent?” Fallgatter said.
Sampson said the bill could do more harm than good.
“This sends a dangerous message that the state is willing to curtail people’s rights specifically their first amendment rights to video and capture evidence,” Sampson said.