Thompson addresses food, force in Florida Senate

TALLAHASSEE  With every change in technology comes hiccups of trying to organize various entities on similar systems.

This has been the case for some Floridians who qualify for the Food Assistance Program and wish to shop at farmers markets.

“At one time, people received food stamps, which was an actual voucher — something they could hold in their hands — and they could take the voucher wherever they wanted to purchase food,” said District 12 State Sen. Geraldine Thompson, of Gotha. “Many of them chose to use farmers markets to get fresh foods and vegetables. When that system was transitioned to an electronic balance transfer system, many farmers markets were not equipped to handle EBTs.”

This hitch prevents the impoverished from getting fresh food and decreases farmers markets' sales, largely because farmers cannot afford to transition to the new technology, Thompson said.

Thus, Thompson introduced Senate Bill 284 this session to enable such sales once again.

“This bill would allow a third party to set up an EBT system at farmers markets that would allow low-income people who qualify ... to get their fruits and vegetables at the fresh farmers markets,” Thompson said.

SB 284 has passed the Agriculture Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. It now faces the Appropriations Committee.

Two other Thompson bills have not yet garnered such success: Senate bills 796 and 810. Both have been referred to the Criminal Justice Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice, based on their relation to law-enforcement training and use thereof.

SB 796 would alter training protocol for law-enforcement officers in how they interact with minorities and diverse populations, whereas SB 810 would mandate independent Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigations for each instance of grave injury or death resulting from police force.

“Unfortunately, racial bias enters into how law enforcement interacts with ethic minorities,” Thompson said. “I think that many times they see certain individuals as threatening based on ... their appearance, rather than any statistical data that suggest these individuals are more threatening or dangerous than anyone else. And so I think training would help law enforcement officers identify instances of bias that may be there subconsciously that they are not aware of.”

That sort of training would lessen improper uses of heavy force statewide, Thompson said.

Thompson also believes this would ensure the public gets the actual facts from an independent entity and increase public trust.

“In some instances there are no investigations,” she said. “So it would at least provide for a thorough and impartial investigation throughout the state of Florida. There are law-enforcement agencies that request the assistance of FDLE now, but it is not required. It is … voluntary on their part.”

Thompson hopes heads of law-enforcement agencies would see how this bill offers better transparency, accountability and relations with communities.

“This is what I'm saying to law officers who have contacted me,” she said. “I think that it gives you another level of review, and people have greater confidence that your confidence that your actions were appropriate.”

She offered an example of how a lack of proper training and accountability could lead to problems affecting not just the involved parties, but taxpayers.

“In Orange County we had a man who was 84 years old, who was injured by a 20-something-year-old officer,” Thompson said. “The man's neck was broken, and at that time, there was no investigation, no discipline. The case was closed. The man went to court, and the jury awarded him $880,000. The city pays out these awards for use of force, but ultimately it's the taxpayer who pays it, because obviously they're funding the police department.”

Thompson said she did not have a specific course in mind for training officers to interact with diverse populations, but she believes better training should aid the whole relationship between police and minorities in due time.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].