Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Associated PressNovember 18, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott is seeking $8.5 million to help process a backlog of nearly 11,000 untested rape kits. Scott announced his proposal in a news release Wednesday. The money would be used to upgrade Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime laboratories. It would be spent on lab equipment, DNA database upgrades and crime scene vehicles. […]

Phil AmmannNovember 2, 2015

Whenever there is a police officer-involved shooting, supervisors often call the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for an independent investigation. Now the agency is struggling to keep up. According to WFTS Tampa, FDLE’s caseload on officer-involved shootings jumped 31 percent last year; and rising 117 percent during the past five years. The backlog is leaving […]

Diane RobertsAugust 4, 2015

Maybe it’s the excitement of the upcoming candidate debate, the influence of Pluto, or the infernal heat, but Florida Republicans are acting weirder than usual. Jeb Bush casually proposed getting rid of Medicare in front of a gaggle of older people. A couple of days later, he copped to a man-crush on James K. Polk, […]

Diane RobertsAugust 3, 2015

Maybe it’s the excitement of the upcoming candidate debate, the influence of Pluto, or the infernal heat, but Florida Republicans are acting weirder than usual. Jeb Bush casually proposed getting rid of Medicare in front of a gaggle of older people. A couple of days later, he copped to a man-crush on James K. Polk, […]

Peter SchorschJuly 23, 2015

Attorney General Pam Bondi has decided not to bring forward any additional applicants for the position of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, meaning that Interim Secretary Jon Steverson will be the only candidate to be interviewed by the Cabinet at their next meeting. Steverson and FDLE head Rick Swearingen were the first state officials affected by […]

Melissa RossJuly 20, 2015

News that the FDLE will investigate red light camera firm Redflex is getting a major green light from activists lobbying against the company. “I’m ecstatic,” said Paul Henry, a retired Florida state trooper who has been lobbying against red light cameras in the state via the Liberty First Network. Henry made his remarks during an appearance […]

Mitch PerryJuly 17, 2015

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has begun to look into the request by Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Brandes for a state investigation into red-light camera contracts held by an Arizona company whose chief executive has pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to camera contracts in Chicago. Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican, is well known for […]

Mitch PerryJuly 15, 2015

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The use of red-light cameras in Florida and nationally has been a flashpoint for years. The news in June that a former CEO of a traffic-camera company in Ohio pleaded guilty to bribing public officials has prompted two Florida lawmakers to call for a state investigation into that company’s contracts with local governments in the […]

Ryan RayApril 10, 2015

A group of about 60 protestors marched from Florida State University to the Capitol Thursday evening in a show of force against recent Ku Klux Klan-related activity in Tallahassee. The event, organized by Students for a Democratic Society, culminated in the burning of a Confederate flag near the steps of the Old Capitol building. Referring to […]

Daniel TilsonApril 2, 2015

Political columnists write stories. We’re not supposed to be stories. But as many of you already know, I became a big part of what turned into a big story during the past week or so. It started when I found out Gov. Rick Scott was getting creative about the propaganda strategy used to market his […]

Tag: FDLE
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Gov. Rick Scott seeks $8.5 million to help process rape kits

FDLE “can’t keep up” with officer-involved shooting caseload, requests $3.4M for new agents

Diane Roberts: Rick Scott reaps harvest of sham from Planned Parenthood fakery

Diane Roberts: Rick Scott reaps harvest of sham from Planned Parenthood fakery

Jon Stevenson to be only DEP candidate interviewed at next cabinet meeting

Foes of red light cameras “ecstatic” at FDLE investigation

FDLE to do preliminary review of complaint on red-light camera vendor

Lawmakers want FDLE to investigate contacts with red-light camera vendor

Anti-Klan activists march, burn Confederate flag in front of Old Capitol

Daniel Tilson: Reflections on my home visit from Rick Scott's FDLE