Florida's law prohibits Assault or Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer(police officer). Arrests may result for the knowing threatening with violence or the touching or striking of a police officer while the police officer is engaged in the lawful execution of his or her duties as a Law Enforcement Officer. Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer is generally a first degree misdemeanor, while Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer is a third degree felony. Florida's laws also allow for an enhancement and reclassification of offenses such as aggravated assault, aggravated battery, or attempted murder of a law enforcement officer which increases the punishment if the offender is convicted of a violent crime against a law enforcement officer.
Law Enforcement Officers include not only police officers but a correctional officer, probation officer, employees or agents of the Department of Corrections, federal law enforcement officers, officers with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, law enforcement staff of the Department of Law Enforcement, or law enforcement staff of the Department of Environmental Protection. This law also applies to assault or battery on a firefighter, emergency medical personnel, or anyone allowed to perform duties directly related to caring for and treating persons at a hospital's emergency room.
Many people arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer feel that they have done nothing wrong and have difficulty understanding why they were arrested and charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer. The person arrested for such an offense is usually the one who has suffered physical injury at the hands of the officer. Many clients report that they simply did not make it easy to be taken into custody and that the officer was not hurt during the encounter.
At Arnold Law Firm, LLC, we practice not just the science of lawyering but the art of being a lawyer. We don't just recite facts, instead, we make the prosecutor, judge and jury feel and experience the client's story. We help make sure your right to your day in court is protected. An arrest for battery on a law enforcement officer does not mean automatic conviction! Contact our experienced criminal defense attorneys for a 30 minute free consultation today at 904-731-3800.
We encourage our clients to know the law they are charged with. An arrest for assault or battery on a law enforcement officer would be litigated under the statues below:
784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit employees or agents, or other specified officers; reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.
(1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) "Emergency medical care provider" means an ambulance driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic, registered nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical director as defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by an emergency medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is engaged in the performance of his or her duties. The term "emergency medical care provider" also includes physicians, employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395, who are employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a hospital to perform duties directly associated with the care and treatment rendered by the hospital's emergency department or the security thereof.
(b) "Firefighter" means any person employed by any public employer of this state whose duty it is to extinguish fires; to protect life or property; or to enforce municipal, county, and state fire prevention codes, as well as any law pertaining to the prevention and control of fires.
(c) "Law enforcement explorer" means any person who is a current member of a law enforcement agency's explorer program and who is performing functions other than those required to be performed by sworn law enforcement officers on behalf of a law enforcement agency while under the direct physical supervision of a sworn officer of that agency and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch that clearly identifies the law enforcement agency that he or she represents.
(d) "Law enforcement officer" includes a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a correctional probation officer, a part-time law enforcement officer, a part-time correctional officer, an auxiliary law enforcement officer, and an auxiliary correctional officer, as those terms are respectively defined in s. 943.10, and any county probation officer; an employee or agent of the Department of Corrections who supervises or provides services to inmates; an officer of the Parole Commission; a federal law enforcement officer as defined in s. 901.1505; and law enforcement personnel of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, or the Department of Law Enforcement.
(e) "Public transit employees or agents" means bus operators, train operators, revenue collectors, security personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, or field supervisors, who are employees or agents of a transit agency as described in s. 812.015(1)(l).
(2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, a traffic accident investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law enforcement agency employee who is certified as an agency inspector, blood alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator while such employee is in uniform and engaged in processing, testing, evaluating, analyzing, or transporting a person who is detained or under arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in s. 316.640, a person licensed as a security officer as defined in s. 493.6101 and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch or emblem that is visible at all times that clearly identifies the employing agency and that clearly identifies the person as a licensed security officer, or a security officer employed by the board of trustees of a community college, while the officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider, intake officer, traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction enforcement officer, inspector, analyst, operator, law enforcement explorer, parking enforcement specialist, public transit employee or agent, or security officer is engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties, the offense for which the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows:
(a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(b) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the first degree to a felony of the third degree.
(c) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of the third degree to a felony of the second degree. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years.
(d) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of the second degree to a felony of the first degree. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years.
(3) Any person who is convicted of a battery under paragraph (2)(b) and, during the commission of the offense, such person possessed:
(a) A "firearm" or "destructive device" as those terms are defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years.
(b) A semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity detachable box magazine, as defined in s. 775.087(3), or a machine gun as defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 8 years.
Notwithstanding s. 948.01, adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld, and the defendant is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s. 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than pardon or executive clemency, or conditional medical release under s. 947.149, prior to serving the minimum sentence.
History.--s. 1, ch. 76-75; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 22, ch. 79-8; s. 1, ch. 80-43; s. 1, ch. 85-33; s. 39, ch. 88-122; s. 2, ch. 88-177; s. 3, ch. 88-373; ss. 52, 55, 57, ch. 88-381; s. 43, ch. 89-526; s. 3, ch. 91-174; s. 12, ch. 93-230; s. 472, ch. 94-356; s. 20, ch. 95-184; s. 1, ch. 96-293; s. 57, ch. 96-388; s. 32, ch. 97-280; s. 1, ch. 98-97; s. 96, ch. 99-3; s. 4, ch. 99-188; s. 227, ch. 99-245; s. 315, ch. 99-248; ss. 1, 2, ch. 2002-209; s. 1, ch. 2006-127; s. 1, ch. 2007-112; s. 1, ch. 2009-102.
Updated as of September 1, 2009 from http://www.flsenate.gov/
