Florida Statutes 112.533 – Receipt and processing of complaints
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(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to make the process for receiving, processing, and investigation of complaints against law enforcement or correctional officers, and the rights and privileges provided in this part while under investigation, apply uniformly throughout this state and its political subdivisions.
(2) As used in this section, the term “political subdivision” means a separate agency or unit of local government created or established by law or ordinance and the officers thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, a board, a branch, a bureau, a city, a commission, a consolidated government, a county, a department, a district, an institution, a metropolitan government, a municipality, an office, an officer, a public corporation, a town, or a village.
(3) A political subdivision may not adopt or attempt to enforce any ordinance relating to either of the following:
For details, see Fla. Stat. § 775.082(4)(a)
(a) The receipt, processing, or investigation by any political subdivision of this state of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement or correctional officers, except as expressly provided in this section.
Attorney's Note
Under the Florida Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| misdemeanor of the first degree | up to 1 year | up to $1,000 |
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 112.533
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Correctional officer: means any person, other than a warden, who is appointed or employed full time or part time by the state or any political subdivision thereof whose primary responsibility is the supervision, protection, care, custody, or control of inmates within a correctional institution; and includes correctional probation officers, as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 112.531
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Law enforcement officer: means any person, other than a chief of police, who is employed full time or part time by any municipality or the state or any political subdivision thereof and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state; and includes any person who is appointed by the sheriff as a deputy sheriff under…. See Florida Statutes 112.531
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) Civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies’ investigations of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement or correctional officers.
(4)(a) Every law enforcement agency and correctional agency shall establish and put into operation a system for the receipt, investigation, and determination of complaints received by such agency from any person, which must be the procedure for investigating a complaint against a law enforcement or correctional officer and for determining whether to proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges, notwithstanding any other law or ordinance to the contrary. When law enforcement or correctional agency personnel assigned the responsibility of investigating the complaint prepare an investigative report or summary, regardless of form, the person preparing the report shall, at the time the report is completed:
1. Verify pursuant to s. 92.525 that the contents of the report are true and accurate based upon the person’s personal knowledge, information, and belief.
2. Include the following statement, sworn and subscribed to pursuant to s. 92.525:
“I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and belief, I have not knowingly or willfully deprived, or allowed another to deprive, the subject of the investigation of any of the rights contained in ss. 112.532 and 112.533, Florida Statutes.”
The requirements of subparagraphs 1. and 2. must be completed before the determination as to whether to proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges. This subsection does not preclude the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission from exercising its authority under chapter 943.
(b) Any political subdivision that initiates or receives a complaint against a law enforcement officer or correctional officer shall within 5 business days forward the complaint to the employing agency of the officer who is the subject of the complaint for review or investigation. Notwithstanding the rights and privileges provided under this part or any provisions provided in a collective bargaining agreement, the agency head or the agency head’s designee may request a sworn or certified investigator from a separate law enforcement or correctional agency to conduct the investigation when a conflict is identified with having an investigator conduct the investigation of an officer of the same employing agency; the employing agency does not have an investigator trained to conduct such investigations; or the agency’s investigator is the subject of, or a witness in, the investigation and such agency is composed of any combination of 35 or fewer law enforcement officers or correctional officers. The employing agency must document the identified conflict. Upon completion of the investigation, the investigator shall present the findings without any disciplinary recommendation to the employing agency.
(5)(a) A complaint filed against a law enforcement officer or correctional officer with a law enforcement agency or correctional agency and all information obtained pursuant to the investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until the investigation ceases to be active, or until the agency head or the agency head’s designee provides written notice to the officer who is the subject of the complaint, either personally or by mail, that the agency has concluded the investigation with either a finding:
1. Not to proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges; or
2. To proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the officer who is the subject of the complaint, along with legal counsel or any other representative of his or her choice, may review the complaint and all statements regardless of form made by the complainant and witnesses and all existing evidence, including, but not limited to, incident reports, analyses, GPS locator information, and audio or video recordings relating to the investigation, immediately before beginning the investigative interview. All statements, regardless of form, provided by a law enforcement officer or correctional officer during the course of a complaint investigation of that officer must be made under oath pursuant to s. 92.525. Knowingly false statements given by a law enforcement officer or correctional officer under investigation may subject the law enforcement officer or correctional officer to prosecution for perjury. If a witness to a complaint is incarcerated in a correctional facility and may be under the supervision of, or have contact with, the officer under investigation, only the names and written statements of the complainant and nonincarcerated witnesses may be reviewed by the officer under investigation immediately before the beginning of the investigative interview.
(b) This subsection does not apply to any public record which is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to chapter 119. For the purposes of this subsection, an investigation is considered active as long as it is continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation that an administrative finding will be made in the foreseeable future. An investigation is presumed to be inactive if no finding is made within 45 days after the complaint is filed.
(c) Notwithstanding this section, the complaint and information must be available to law enforcement agencies, correctional agencies, and state attorneys in the conduct of a lawful criminal investigation.
(6) A law enforcement officer or correctional officer has the right to review his or her official personnel file at any reasonable time under the supervision of the designated records custodian. A law enforcement officer or correctional officer may attach to the file a concise statement in response to any items included in the file identified by the officer as derogatory, and copies of such items must be made available to the officer.
(7) Any person who is a participant in an internal investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the investigation and the subject’s legal counsel or a representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the agency’s investigation, including, but not limited to, the identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in connection with a confidential internal investigation of an agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding becomes a public record as provided in this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a law enforcement or correctional officer’s ability to gain access to information under paragraph (5)(a). Additionally, a sheriff, police chief, or other head of a law enforcement agency, or his or her designee, is not precluded by this section from acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact that an investigation is underway.