Bill Text: FL S1536 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Cold Case Initiative Program

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Criminal Justice [S1536 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S1536-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2014                                    SB 1536
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-01308A-14                                           20141536__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Cold Case Initiative Program;
    3         creating s. 943.0412, F.S.; establishing the program
    4         within the Department of Law Enforcement; providing
    5         the purpose of the program; defining the term “cold
    6         case”; requiring the department to develop a database
    7         of cold cases; providing requirements for the
    8         database; providing for a public website that includes
    9         specified information; requiring a law enforcement
   10         agency to provide a list of cold cases; requiring the
   11         department to coordinate with local law enforcement
   12         agencies; requiring the department to adopt rules;
   13         providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 943.0412, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         943.0412 Cold Case Initiative Program.—There is created the
   20  Cold Case Initiative Program within the Department of Law
   21  Enforcement. The purpose of the program is to provide additional
   22  insight and new approaches to previous investigative problems
   23  and to provide the opportunity to apply modern investigative
   24  strategies in order to reinvestigate violent crimes that are
   25  unsolved.
   26         (1) As used in this section, the term “cold case” means a
   27  case involving a missing person, unidentified remains, or a
   28  violent crime, including, but not limited to, a homicide or a
   29  sexual battery, which has not been solved for at least 3 years
   30  after the commission of the crime.
   31         (2) The department shall develop a database of cold cases
   32  which includes a secure, private database accessible to local
   33  law enforcement agencies within the state only, as well as a
   34  public website that includes limited information such as a
   35  victim’s photo, if available, and the victim’s race, gender,
   36  height, weight, hair color, eye color, and date of birth and a
   37  brief description and date of the crime. Each law enforcement
   38  agency in the state shall provide the department with a list of
   39  cold cases to be included in the cold case database and annual
   40  updates on resolved cold cases and any additional eligible cold
   41  cases to add to the database. The local law enforcement agency
   42  shall maintain the physical evidence and investigation file for
   43  each cold case unless otherwise agreed by the agency and the
   44  department.
   45         (3) The department shall coordinate with the local law
   46  enforcement agency that has primary jurisdiction over each cold
   47  case to select, review, and reinvestigate such cold cases.
   48         (4) The department shall adopt rules to administer this
   49  section.
   50         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.