The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a
state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. 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 the 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 Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
.
The department is headquartered in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
, the
state capital
Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities.
National capitals
*List of national capitals
*List of national capitals by latitude
*List of national capitals by population
*List of national capitals by area
*List of ...
, and has close to 2,000 employees statewide. The department maintains seven regional operations centers, 12 field offices, and seven
crime lab
A crime laboratory, often shortened to crime lab, is a scientific laboratory, using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases.
Lab personnel
A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel:
*Field ana ...
oratories.
Overview
FDLE's five "program areas" are:
* Executive Direction and Business Support Program,
* Criminal Investigations and Forensic Science Program,
* Florida Capitol Police Program,
* Criminal Justice Information Program, and
* Criminal Justice Professionalism Program.
The FDLE has earned accreditation from the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) is a credentialing authority (accreditation), based in the United States, whose primary mission is to accredit public safety agencies, namely law enforcement agencies, trai ...
, the
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors / Laboratory Accreditation Board, and the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.
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
Police misconduct is inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: sexual offences, false confession, coerced false confession, intimidation, ...
, as well as major
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
crimes. They also provide security for the
governor of Florida
The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...
and his or her family. FDLE is the State of Florida's investigative arm. They are considered more of a
state police
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
than Florida's
highway patrol
A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countri ...
, which specializes in traffic enforcement and vehicle-related homicide. All investigation into any crimes, including crimes committed by law enforcement can only be initiated by a government agency and all citizen requests will be denied.
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
Florida 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
The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...
, specified members of the Cabinet, two
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
s, and one
chief of police
A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...
. 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
The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law.
Function
The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
, 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
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
. 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
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
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
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...
in the nation to be accredited by the
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 the CFA. The agency was jointly reaccredited in 2000, 2003, and 2006 by both the 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
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, 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.
In June 2022, an FDLE investigation found that Broward County Sheriff
Gregory Tony had in February 2019 provided false information on an application for a
driver's license
A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, ca ...
.
The FDLE recommended that Tony be charged with the
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...
of "false affidavit
perjury
Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
."
That was one count, of a total of eight, leveled against Tony for “Unlawful Acts in Relation to Driver License.”
Organization
Headquartered in Tallahassee, the FDLE employs nearly 2,000 members statewide who work at headquarters, the department's seven regional operations centers, 15 field offices, and seven
crime laboratories.
Headquarters
Office of Executive Director
* Executive investigations
* General counsel
* Inspector general
* Legislative affairs
* External affairs
Public Safety Services
* Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)
* Business Support Program
* Professionalism Program
* Information Technology Services
* Florida Capitol Police
Investigations & Forensic Science
* Domestic Security and Investigations
* Forensic Services
Regional Operations Centers and field offices
* Ft. Myers Operations Center with Sarasota and Sebring
* Jacksonville Operations Center with Gainesville and St. Augustine
* Miami Operations Center with Key West and West Palm Beach
* Orlando Operations Center with Ft. Pierce, and Melbourne
* Pensacola Operations Center with Panama City.
* Tallahassee Operations Center with Live Oak
* Tampa Bay Operations Center with Brooksville and Lakeland
Regional Crime Laboratories
* Ft. Myers
* Jacksonville
* Orlando
* Pensacola
* Tallahassee
* Tampa
Florida Capitol Police

The Florida Capitol Police, part of the FDLE, is a uniformed
police department
The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...
in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
, in charge of security and law enforcement on the grounds of the
Florida State Capitol
The Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, is an architecturally and historically significant building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Capitol is at the intersection (road), intersection of Apalachee Parkway and F ...
and various other state government buildings.
History
The Capitol Police was created by the
Florida Legislature and began service in 1973 as a
plainclothes security force created. Originally known as Legislative Security, it operated under the Florida Department of General Services (DGS).
The first director was
Florida Highway Patrol
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is a division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It is Florida's highway patrol, highway State Police (United States), patrol and is the primary law enforcement agency charged with in ...
Captain Nathan Sharron, and the original administrative offices were in the Larson Building, with security operations office in a few small offices in the Senate Office Building. In 1973, Legislative Security employed 20 members, including security officers and a handful of plainclothes law enforcement officers, known as special agents. It had the only
explosive ordnance disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...
unit in the
Big Bend area. In 1978, two years after the new Capitol building was completed, Legislative Security moved its operations and administrative offices into the new building.
In 1983, legislation changed the name from Legislative Security to the Division of Safety and Crime Prevention. The director at that time was James McPherson, formerly of the State Beverage Agency. The uniformed police became more highly visible and members were assigned to various state buildings besides the Capitol. Responsibilities increased and included the Capitol Complex as a whole, state buildings, and state facilities in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Orlando
Orlando commonly refers to:
* Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States
Orlando may also refer to:
People
* Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name
* Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
,
Tampa
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
, and 11 other cities known as Regional Service Centers.
In 1985, the Florida Legislature mandated that the Division of Safety and Crime Prevention provide training and safety courses to other state agencies at their request. They were also mandated to develop and conduct evacuation procedures for the Capitol.
During the early 1990s, the department became the Capitol Police. McPherson retired in 1995, and was succeeded by Colonel Timothy Kerns as director. Kerns retired in 1998, and was succeeded by Terry Meek, a former FDLE special agent.
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
,
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
placed the Capitol Police under the direction of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The new director was Scotty Sanderson, former FDLE Director of Mutual Aid. Security at the Capitol was elevated,
magnetometer
A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...
s and
x-ray machine
An X-ray machine is a device that uses X-rays for a variety of applications including medicine, X-ray fluorescence, electronic assembly inspection, and measurement of material thickness in manufacturing operations. In medical applications, X-ra ...
s were used to screen all visitors, and additional state law enforcement officers were assigned to the Capitol.
In 2002, the Florida Capitol Police were officially transferred to the FDLE under House Bill 1407, with sworn law enforcement officers across the state relocated to Tallahassee. Today the primary responsibility of Capitol Police is to protect the security of the governor, the
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, the members of the
Florida Cabinet, the members of the
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
and the
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
, and all employees assigned to assist such state officials in the performance of their official duties and provide security and protection for other state officials, employees, and visitors to the Capitol Complex.
Units
Units of the Florida Capitol Police include:
*Operations
**Patrol: Units patrolling the Capitol Building, Holland Building, Pepper Building, and the Capital Circle Office Center.
**Communications Section: Responsible for answering and initiating all calls for police and security services at the Capitol and other facilities within the Capitol Complex, with seven full-time staff members and one supervisor.
**Directed Patrol Team: A six-member team which operates primarily on bicycles.
*Special Operations
**Investigations: Consisting of one
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
, two sworn investigators, and one government analyst, responsible for all investigations that occur at the Capitol Complex.
**Hazardous Devices: Created in 1974, it was the first squad in the North Florida area to become a fully equipped unit, the first to deploy a bomb robot, and the first to be accredited by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
Bomb Data Center.
**K-9: The
K-9 unit has four
explosive detection canine teams.
*Special assignments
**Special Operations Team (SOT): A ten-member team. Established in 2003 with five members as the Critical Incident Team (CIT) to bridge the gap between the occurrence of a critical incident and arrival of the
Leon County Sheriff's Office SWAT
A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations.
SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
Team.
**Protective Operation Section: Eight officers providing protective services to members of either of the houses of the legislature.
**
Honor Guard
A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...
: Consisting of four officers and a sergeant.
Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission
The
Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission (CJSTC), established in 1967 under ''
Florida Statutes'', Chapter 943, is a Florida state commission. The Commission's mission is "To ensure that all citizens of Florida are served by
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
officers who are ethical, qualified, and well-trained."
It is part of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
It has a number of primary responsibilities. One of them, among other things, is to establish minimum standards for the employment and training of law enforcement and correctional officers. A second responsibility is to certify officers. A third responsibility is to review and administer administrative sanctions where there is a violation of ''Florida Statutes'' and Commission standards. A fourth responsibility it to maintain records of all certified officers.
[William G. Doerner, Charles W. Rushing (2003)]
''Study Guide for the Florida Correction Officer's Examination Certification''
/ref>
Notable FDLE members
* Dayle Hinman
* Antonio J. Pineda
Fictional members
* Jim Longworth
* Lex Rogers
See also
* State Bureau of Investigation
* List of law enforcement agencies in Florida
* List of U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Department Of Law Enforcement
State agencies of Florida
State law enforcement agencies of Florida
Government agencies established in 1969
1969 establishments in Florida