Gov. Ron DeSantis signs laws prohibiting the harassment of police officers and first responders

St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick and his agency recently hosted Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative personnel for the signing of Senate Bill 184 (SB 184) and House Bill 601 (HB 601) into law.

According to information released by the legislature, SB 184 prohibits the harassment of a police officers or first responders while they're on duty, actively performing their jobs.

“This law pertains to any person who has received a verbal warning not to approach an officer and who approaches with the intent to interfere with their official duties, threaten with physical harm, or harass the officer,” they said.

Those in violation of the law will be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.

House Bill 601 prevents anti-police activists from carrying out extrajudicial investigations against law enforcement.

In addition, HB 601 codifies the creation of civilian oversight boards. Under the law, these boards must be directed by a county sheriff or the chief of police and will consist of three to seven members appointed by the sheriff or chief of police, with at least one member being a retired law enforcement officer.

This “ensures that misconduct allegations will be investigated by those properly trained and equipped to handle such investigations, such as Internal Affairs Departments or the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission,” noted a news release announcing the signing.

The bill will also increase county sheriffs’ base salaries by $5,000 for each population group.

“The signing of Senate Bill 184 simply puts the exclamation point behind what ‘Back the Blue’ truly means in the State of Florida,” Hardwick said in a statement.

Hardwick explained that because law enforcement personnel “never know” what to expect when responding to a service call, the laws establish boundaries, a “protective” area, allowing officers to perform their duties upon arrival.

In thanking DeSantis, Hardwick described Florida as the most law enforcement friendly state in the country.

“We’re blessed in St. Johns County to have this partnership and relationship with our community that stands behind the blue, just like you governor,” he said. “That being said, this simply gives us the law and latitude to enforce if someone doesn’t want to listen and doesn’t want to pay attention as we continue to do our jobs.”

Mark Glass, Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement commissioner, who was also in attendance, underscored the legislation as protecting the rights of law enforcement officers along with keeping them safe on the job.

During the signing ceremony, DeSantis reiterated Hardwick's statistics for St. Johns County's growth increase of 42% over the last 10 years.

"That shows that people vote with their feet," said DeSantis. "They look to St. Johns County as high quality and a part of that is good law enforcement working hard to keep everyone safe."

HB 601 will take effect July 1. SB 184 will take effect Jan. 1.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: DeSantis in town to sign pro-law enforcement bills into law