by Bethany Blankley
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program is continuing to pay off as more law enforcement officers relocate to Florida from other states.
On Friday, Gov. DeSantis delivered $5,000 bonuses to six new recruits in the Cape Coral Police Department in Lee County. Two relocated from New York; one relocated from Maryland, one relocated from Georgia, and two are new to the profession.
All six officers were sworn into the Cape Coral Police Department prior to Hurricane Ian and served the community during response and recovery efforts.
“We are glad these officers chose to bring their talents to the law enforcement profession in Florida,” DeSantis said. “The heroism all our officers displayed when responding to Hurricane Ian is yet another example of why we must always back the blue.”
The first of its kind program “is part of the strongest law enforcement support initiative” in the U.S., DeSantis said.
Last November, when DeSantis invited police officers to relocate to Florida, he said, “NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, if you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here: you fill important needs for us, and we’ll compensate you as a result.”
Shortly after his invitation, at least 14 NYPD officers left New York City to join the Lakeland Police Department, located near Tampa. They cited DeSantis’ recruitment plan and a hostile work environment in a city whose leadership they said turned its back on police.
In July, Attorney General Ashley Moody touted the program, pointing to a new Lee County Sheriff’s Office recruit who relocated to Florida from Chicago. Now a new sheriff’s deputy, he said he didn’t feel appreciated by the residents of Chicago or by the city’s leadership. He came across Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno speaking in a video on social media about “how great it is to be a deputy in Florida.” He heard DeSantis’s invitation, looked into it, and in March moved his family to Florida.
The recruitment program was created and funded through HB 3, a sweeping bill DeSantis signed into law that allocated $20 million to law enforcement recruitment and retention efforts.
The new law includes signing bonuses for every new recruit, covers costs for training programs and relocation expenses, pay raises and $1,000 bonuses. The bill also created a Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship Program for children of law enforcement officers. It also authorizes funding for law enforcement officers who adopt children through the state’s child welfare system. Officers can receive a $10,000 benefit per child or a $25,000 benefit for adopting a child with special needs.
The $5,000 bonuses were in addition to bonuses law enforcement officers received in Florida earlier this year. For the second year in a row, DeSantis authorized $1,000 bonuses for local government first responders, including police officers, sheriff’s deputies, paramedics, EMTs, and firefighters statewide. The bonuses were made possible through the 2022–2023 General Appropriations Act, which allocated $125 million for the Florida Essential First Responders Recognition Program.
Local government employers are responsible for identifying employees that meet the program criteria; more information is available here.
Another program to help law enforcement officers advocated by DeSantis is the Hometown Heroes Housing Program. It launched June 1 with a $100 million budget. It provides frontline workers in more than 100 eligible professions with down payment and closing cost assistance to help purchase a primary residence in the communities where they work.
“Our law enforcement, first responders, nurses, and other hometown heroes work hard every day to take care of their communities,” DeSantis said when launching the program, emphasizing the need to help those serving their communities be able to afford to live in them.
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Ron DeSantis with Police Officers” by Ron DeSantis.
