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Making Florida a Safer Place to Call Home After nearly a decade of landmark reforms, Florida has made significant strides in crime reduction and the overall safety of our communities. Today, we boast some of the lowest crime rates in state history and continue to work towards an even safer Florida. When Governor Bush took office, Florida had the highest crime rate in its history and a justice system where criminals only served a fraction of their sentences. Our own state-operated rest stops threatened our tourism-based economy with nationally reported incidences of violence. To reduce crime and make Florida a safer place to live, work and visit, getting tough on crime was a must. As a result, the Florida Legislature passed such measures, setting an example for the rest of the nation and sending a clear message: we will not tolerate violence in our communities. Getting Touch on Crime Part of the effort to further enforce that message was to reform sentencing requirements, requiring that “life means life,” and that convicted criminals serve at least 85% of their sentences. Skeptics said this would bankrupt our prison system, but we have shown that by investing in prevention and tougher sentencing requirements, we actually helped break the cycle of crime that was too prevalent. We made it clear that Florida will put away offenders who use a gun to commit a crime with the “10-20-Life” law and the “Three Strikes Law” provides for mandatory prison penalties for repeat violent offenders. And with the recent occurrences of atrocious crimes such as the senseless murders of Carlie Brucia and Jessica Lunsford, it was time to once again step up by passing the toughest penalties in the nation for those who prey on children. In 2005, the Legislature successfully passed the “Jessica Lunsford Act,” mandating lifetime imprisonment, or lifetime supervision with electronic monitoring, for individuals convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12 years old. Sending a Message Commit a crime and you will serve 85% of your sentence. Use a gun in the commission of a crime and you will go to jail. Repeat violent offenders will spend life in jail.
Florida's leaders have made good on their promise to make the Sunshine State a better place to live, work, raise a family and vacation, and I look forward to continuing to build on these remarkable statistics of change. Report Card
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Like many of my fellow legislators, I recognized that merely studying criminal behavior and discussing why criminals re-offend would not solve the problem. Instead, we took action to make our state safe. Florida had to send a message that this type of behavior was intolerable, a message so strong that it would serve as a deterrent for offenders. So what have all of these “tough on crime” measures produced? Real results, such as the lowest crime rate in 34 years, the lowest violent crime rate in 26 years and a violent-gun crime rate that has dropped 30% since 1998.