Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Abbreviation FDLE

Patch of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Logo of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Badge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Agency overview
Employees 2000
Annual budget $300,000,000.00
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* State of Florida, USA
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Tallahassee, Florida
Agency executive Rick Swearingen, Commissioner
Facilities
Regional Operation Centers 7
Website
FDLE Website
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a Florida government agency. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities and procedures are mandated through Chapter 943, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 11, Florida Administrative Code. FDLE is headed by a commissioner (executive director) who reports to Florida Cabinet which is composed of the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer and the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Commissioner is appointed to his position by the Governor and Cabinet and confirmed by the Florida Senate.

The department is headquartered in Tallahassee, the state capital,[1] and has close to 2,000 employees statewide. The department maintains seven regional operations centers, 12 field offices and seven crime laboratories.

Overview

FDLE's "four fundamental values" are "service, integrity, respect, and quality."

FDLE's five "program areas" are:

FDLE is one of the few state law enforcement agencies in the United States to have earned triple accreditation. FDLE is accredited by the following organizations:

FDLE Special Agents handle a wide variety of crimes and assist local police and Sheriff's Offices with limited resources, to include, Homicide, Public Official misconduct, Police Misconduct,as well as Major Drug Trafficking crimes. They also provide security for the Governor of Florida and his or her families. FDLE is the State of Florida's investigative arm.FDLE is equivalent to the FBI. They are considered more of a State Police than Floridas Highway Patrol, which specializes in traffic enforcement and traffic homicide.

History

In 1967, the Florida Legislature merged the duties and responsibilities of several state criminal justice organizations to create the Bureau of Law Enforcement. Bringing together the resources of the Florida Sheriffs Bureau, the State Narcotics Bureau, and the law enforcement activities of the Anti-Bookie Squad of the Attorney General's Office, the original Bureau of Law Enforcement had 94 positions and a $1.5 million budget for its first year of operation. The bureau was headed by a commissioner who reported to a board composed of the Governor of Florida, specified members of the Cabinet, two sheriffs, and one chief of police. The agency had five divisions: Administration, Intelligence and Investigation, Technical Services, Administrative Intelligence, and Planning and Research.

As a result of Florida governmental restructuring in July 1969, the bureau became the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, or FDLE. As a department of the executive branch of government, FDLE was headed by the Governor and Cabinet. The FDLE commissioner was appointed by the Governor with the approval of three members of the Cabinet and subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. At the time, the department consisted of four divisions – Operations, Administrative Intelligence, Criminal Identification and Information, and Training and Inspection.

The agency permanently decentralized many services offered previously only through Headquarters, and rolling them out to the newly defined Regional Operations Centers (ROC). They assumed responsibility for human resource and business functions and began to offer information systems support, training, and increased analytical assistance directly to the surrounding region. The restructuring placed authority at the regional level, with members of the ROCs reporting to a regional director (special agent in charge) instead of the Tallahassee headquarters. The traditional investigative role of the ROCs expanded significantly, allowing them to offer more specialized assistance.

In July 1990, FDLE was the first state law enforcement agency in the nation to be accredited by CALEA. The agency successfully attained CALEA reaccreditation status in 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2006. In October 1996, FDLE was the first statewide law enforcement agency to be accredited by CFA. The agency was jointly reaccredited in 2000, 2003 and 2006 by both CALEA and CFA. FDLE also received initial accreditation by ASCLD/LAB in 1990 and has achieved reaccreditation during each subsequent five-year reaccreditation period.

In the late 1990s, FDLE's Executive Policy Board was formally organized. Composed of program directors, regional special agents in charge, and other headquarters leadership, the EPB provides a frequent forum for the review of department-wide issues and policy-level decision making.

In 2000, the Legislature transferred the Division of Public Assistance Fraud from the Auditor General to FDLE. The following year, the Department of Community Affairs' Office of Criminal Justice Grants was legislatively transferred to FDLE. Following the events of September 11, 2001, FDLE assumed responsibility as the state's domestic security coordinator and partnering with Florida Sheriffs to lead the state's seven Regional Domestic Security Task Forces. The Florida Capitol Police, with its responsibility for providing law enforcement and security services to the state Capitol, was legislatively transferred to FDLE in 2002.

Organization

Headquartered in Tallahassee, the FDLE employs nearly 2,000 members statewide who work at headquarters, the department's 7 regional operations centers, 15 field offices and 7 crime laboratories.

Headquarters

Office of Executive Director

Public Safety Services

Investigations & Forensic Science

Regional Operations Centers and Field Offices

Regional Crime Laboratories

Hotlines

The FDLE maintains the following Hotline Programs:

Notable FDLE Members

Fictional members

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FDLE Commonly Requested Contacts." Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Retrieved on March 7, 2010. "Florida Department of Law Enforcement 2331 Phillips Road Tallahassee, FL 32308"
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