DeSantis' plan to pay cops to relocate to Florida lured some with violent pasts: report

A Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed program that offered cash for cops to relocate to Florida departments lured some officers with histories of violence, kidnapping and murder, according to a report from The Daily Dot.

DeSantis spent more than $13.5 million on the recruitment bonus program which was created to entice officers from other states who were frustrated by COVID-19 vaccination mandates.

But an investigation by The Daily Dot found that of the almost 600 officers who took the bonus and moved to Florida or were recruited while in the state, a handful of those officers either arrived with a host of complaints against them or acquired criminal charges since making the move. They include a former trainee with the Escambia county sheriff’s office charged with murdering her husband; a Miramar police officer who was fired for domestic battery and kidnapping; and a former NYPD officer who was hired by the Palm Beach police department even though he was accused of making an improper sexual proposition.

“If you’re being mistreated, you’re not being supported — whether you’re on the West Coast, whether you’re in New York, whether you’re in Chicago, any of these places — if you’re qualified and you can fill a spot here, you know, we’re gonna get your back,“ DeSantis said in April in regards to the program.

“We’ve stood for this being a noble profession. We want to support the folks who are protecting us.”

Last month, DeSantis said that more than 1,750 bonuses had been issued to newly employed police recruits in Florida.

Read the full report over at The Daily Dot.