Florida Department of Law Enforcement | |
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Abbreviation | FDLE |
Patch of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
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Logo of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
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Badge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
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Agency overview | |
Employees | 2000 |
Annual budget | $300,000,000.00 |
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | State of Florida, USA |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Tallahassee, Florida |
Agency executive | Rick Swearingen, Commissioner |
Facilities | |
Regional Operation Centers | 7 |
Website | |
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cms/home.aspx | |
Footnotes | |
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a Florida government agency. 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 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 department is headquartered in Tallahassee, the state capital, and has close to 2,000 employees statewide. The department maintains seven regional operations centers, 12 field offices and seven crime laboratories.
FDLE's "four fundamental values" are "service, integrity, respect, and quality."
FDLE's five "program areas" are:
FDLE is one of the few state law enforcement agencies in the United States to have earned triple accreditation. FDLE is accredited by the following organizations:
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,as well as Major Drug Trafficking crimes. They also provide security for the Governor of Florida and his or her families. FDLE is the State of Florida's investigative arm.FDLE is equivalent to the FBI. They are considered more of a State Police than Floridas Highway Patrol, which specializes in traffic enforcement and traffic homicide.
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 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, specified members of the Cabinet, two sheriffs, and one chief of police. The agency had five divisions: Administration, Intelligence and Investigation, Technical Services, Administrative Intelligence, and Planning and Research.