Florida Takes an Important Step to Support First Responders
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The Florida state legislature recently took a small, but important step to support first responders in the Sunshine State.
A nagging problem that has impacted the first responder community has been the difficulty in recruiting and retaining support personnel, such as crime scene investigators and personnel responsible for processing evidence. There has been a great deal of turnover among support personnel, especially as compared to patrol, EMT and other front line personnel.
One reason for the disparity has been that support personnel have often not been considered “first responders” and thus have not been eligible for certain benefits and programs designed for first responders.
This is particularly true in terms of confidential support programs that are available to first responders to help them deal with the numerous traumatic incidents they become involved in.
First responders such as law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians are often exposed to incidents of death and destruction that can result in the development of behavioral health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicide. To cope with the demands and stresses associated with their occupations, some first responders choose to participate in peer support. Generally, peer support involves connecting a first responder who needs support with another first responder who has behavioral health training.
Thanks to legislation introduced by Florida State Representative Randy Maggard and State Senator Danny Burgess, support personnel who are are involved in investigating a crime scene or collecting or processing evidence are added to the legal definition of first responders and thus become eligible for peer support for first responders and providing confidentiality to communications made by such support personnel while participating in peer support. The term “support personnel” includes any person employed or appointed by an employing agency who is not an officer or, as specified by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, other professional employee in the criminal justice system. As such, the bill extends the privilege of confidentiality for peer support communications to include communications made by support personnel employed by a law enforcement agency who are involved in investigating a crime scene or collecting or processing evidence.
Under the new law, such support personnel will receive the same benefit of confidentiality with respect to peer support communications as law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, 911 public safety telecommunicators, correctional officers, and correctional probation officers.
The legislation has passed the Florida House and Senate and now heads to Governor DeSantis’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.
