Florida exceeds 5,400 bonus payouts in police recruitment program

Efforts to recruit police officers (both new ones from Florida and veteran cops from other states) are ongoing through the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program, with the state dishing out more than 1,000 bonuses to recruit officers this year.

FloridaCommerce says the state has “welcomed more than 400 recruits from anti-police jurisdictions like Illinois, California, and New York,” paying out 5,407 bonuses of $5,000 in total, with 1,340 of them paid out this year alone.

“Under Governor Ron DeSantis’ leadership, Florida is and will remain a pro law enforcement state,” said Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly. “This program continues to attract officers eager to pursue a career in law enforcement to our great state because we believe in supporting those who serve and protect our communities.”

DeSantis billed the program upon his signing of the authorizing legislation three years ago as a way to bring in cops who are “sick and tired of the mistreatment they experience to bring their skills to Florida.”

In 2022, DeSantis said the payments were a way to show Florida stood by cops after “riots” in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.

“We are going to move heaven and earth to make sure this state remains a law-and-order state,” DeSantis said at a presser in Cape Coral. “We’re not going to let them take it away from us.”

Earlier this year, the situation at America’s southern border was a justification for the bonus payouts as well.

“As the (Joe) Biden Border Crisis rages on and fentanyl continues to flow over our southern border, it is more important now than ever to support our law enforcement agencies with the funding and support they need to protect our communities,” DeSantis said in January 2024.

Cops who get the checks have to stay on the beat for two years, otherwise they will have to pay back at least some of the money.