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Published on Thursday, April 22, 2004
in the Miami Herald
The next time you see a highway patrol officer parked at the doughnut shop, he could be on ''official state business'' -- even if he's off duty.
Under a bill preliminarily approved Wednesday by the state Senate, all state law-enforcement officers would get taxpayer-backed worker's compensation and vehicle insurance while traveling ''to and from lunch or meal breaks'' or on ''personal errands'' that are ``not substantial deviations from official state business.''
Right now, highway patrol and wildlife cops can't get the insurance protection because lunch trips and the like aren't considered official state business. Local law enforcement officers aren't subject to the state law.
Sen. Jeff Atwater, a North Palm Beach Republican, said state officers should get the same protection as county and city cops.
''It's perfectly legitimate to pull into a Krispy Kreme or a McDonald's to get a bite to eat,'' Atwater said. ``It's not fair if an officer is getting lunch on his break and someone hits his car, he has to pay.''
The proposal, also moving through the House, would allow off-duty officers to get state-paid patrol-car insurance when they're working at a supervisor-approved job, such as a road-construction project. In those cases, the officers must reimburse the state for the coverage costs.
Total cost to taxpayers: about $670,000 yearly, according to the state's Division of Risk Management.
It's worth the price, said Trooper Joe Mosca, vice chairman of the Florida Highway Patrol chapter of the International Union of Police Associations.
He said state officers have literally run into problems on the way to and from work.
Mosca said a Jacksonville-area officer driving home from work hit a ''big giant mutt'' in 2003, and is now fighting a department finding that he has to pay the $3,600 in damages to his patrol car. That's more than a month's salary.
``He wasn't at fault. But, since they couldn't get the money out of the dog, they want to get it from him.''