On July 1, 2009, staff members from the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget, accompanied by DHSMV and Florida Magazine representatives, met with Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) officials and toured the FHP Academy. Other DHSMV members included Executive Director Electra Bustle and Colonel John Czernis.

Governor Crist’s high-level staff wanted to see, first hand, the day-to-day operations of the FHP Academy.

The tour began with introductions in the Academy Administration Building, followed by a tour of the FHP Museum. The staff toured the Classroom Building, followed by introductions of the Academy staff. Academy staff members gave them a brief history of the Patrol, including recognition of the 41 troopers on the Memorial Wall, who lost their lives in the line of duty. The staff also had the opportunity to speak with members of the 117th Recruit Class about their experiences at the FHP Academy.

The Governor’s staff members - feeling as if they were back in high school riding a school bus - were then transported to the firearms range, via our FHP bus.

At the firearms range, Academy instructors gave an overview of our firearms training and requirements. Several staff members took advantage of the opportunity to fire a handgun and assault rifle. The Academy staff conducted a TASER demonstration. Some of the Governor’s staff members fired the TASER at a training target.

The staff members were then taken to the driving range, where the Academy instructors demonstrated a vehicular pursuit and a live precision immobilization technique (PIT), using two FHP PIT training vehicles. Several staff members took advantage of the opportunity to ride in a Dodge Charger during the vehicular pursuit. Further, several staff members rode with Academy instructors in the PIT training vehicles during live PIT maneuvers.

This was a successful and memorable experience for these very important visitors. They learned a lot about Team DHSMV and the Patrol.