This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0801.CRJ
DATE: 1/17/2024
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 801 Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Training for Law Enforcement Officers
SPONSOR(S): Buchanan
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 208
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Criminal Justice Subcommittee Leshko Hall
2) Justice Appropriations Subcommittee
3) Judiciary Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Dementia is an overarching classification of diseases whose characteristic symptoms present as difficulties
with memory, language, problem-solving, and other thinking skills.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common
form of dementia, accounting for an estimated 60 to 80 percent of all dementia cases. Alzheimer’s disease is
an incurable, progressive brain disorder that damages nerve cells in the brain, leading to memory loss and
changes in the functions of the brain, with symptoms worsening gradually over time.
Sections 943.11 and 943.12, F.S., create the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC)
within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and require CJSTC to establish uniform minimum
training standards for the training of officers in the various criminal justice disciplines. Section 943.13, F.S.,
requires all law enforcement officer applicants to complete a CJSTC-approved basic recruit training program.
After obtaining certification and as a condition of continued employment or appointment, s. 943.135, F.S.,
requires law enforcement officers to receive at least 40 hours of CJSTC-approved continued employment
training (CET) every four years.
Section 943.17296, F.S., requires each certified law enforcement officer to complete training in identifying and
investigating elder abuse and neglect as a part of his or her basic recruit training or as CET. Such training must
include instruction on the identification of and appropriate responses to persons suffering from dementia and
on identifying and investigating elder abuse and neglect. The CJSTC, however, does not currently offer
specific post-basic training on Alzheimer’s disease or related forms of dementia.
HB 801 creates s. 943.17299, F.S., to require FDLE to establish an online, continued employment training
component relating to Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia. The bill requires the training
component to be developed in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs and to include, but not be
limited to, instruction on interacting with persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia,
including instruction on techniques for:
Recognizing behavioral symptoms and characteristics;
Effective communication;
Employing alternatives to using physical restraints; and
Identifying signs of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
The bill specifies that completion of the training component may count toward the 40 hours of instruction
required for continued employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer.
The bill is anticipated to have a negative fiscal impact on FDLE as FDLE estimates it will cost approximately
$11,000 to develop and implement the online CET component.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2024. STORAGE NAME: h0801.CRJ PAGE: 2
DATE: 1/17/2024
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Dementia
Dementia is an overarching classification of diseases whose characteristic symptoms present as
difficulties with memory, language, problem-solving, and other thinking skills.
1
Dementia affects millions
of people and is more common as people grow older, with about one-third of all people age 85 or older
developing some form of dementia.
2
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for an estimated 60 to 80
percent of all dementia cases.
3
Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable, progressive brain disorder that
damages nerve cells in the brain, leading to memory loss and changes in the functions of the brain,
with symptoms worsening gradually over time. Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease may develop
changes in mood, personality, or behavior. A common behavior that individuals with Alzheimer’s
disease frequently develop is wandering.
4
Wandering occurs when a person leaves the safety of a
responsible caregiver or a safe area and cannot retrace their steps, often becoming lost.
5
Approximately twelve to 60 percent of individuals with a cognitive disability wander and approximately
five percent of wandering instances result in physical harm to the disabled person.
6
There are an estimated 6.93 million people in the United States with Alzheimer’s disease.
7
By 2060, the
number of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. is expected to double to a projected 13.85
million people.
8
Florida has the second highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in the country. Currently,
approximately 580,000 Floridians over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease; however, it is estimated
that by 2025, that number will rise to 720,000.
9
Law Enforcement and Alzheimer’s Disease
Law enforcement officers regularly interact with individuals exhibiting Alzheimer’s disease symptoms,
such as confusion, disorientation, and wandering. Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease often cannot ask
for help and may not even recognize they need help. One researcher estimated that an average
search-and-rescue operation for an individual with Alzheimer’s disease lasts about 9 hours.
10
1
Alzheimer’s Association, 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-
figures.pdf (last visited Jan. 17, 2024).
2
National Institute on Aging, What Is Dementia? Symptoms, Types, and Diagnosis, https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-
dementia/what-dementia-symptoms-types-and-diagnosis (last visited Jan. 17, 2024).
3
Alzheimer’s Association, supra note 1, at 7.
4
Alzheimer’s Association, supra note 1, at 5.
5
Id.
6
Joseph Wherton, et al., Wandering as a Sociomaterial Practice: Extending the Theorization of GPS Tracking in Cognitive Impairment,
29 Qual. Health Res., (Sept. 14, 2018),
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1049732318798358#articleCitationDownloadContainer (last visited Jan. 17, 2024).
7
Kumar B. Rajan, Ph.D., et al., Population Estimate of People with Clinical AD and Mild Cognitive Impairment in the United States
(2020-2060), 17 Alzheimers Dement. 12, (May 27, 2021).
8
Id.
9
Florida Department of Elder Affairs, 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Committee Annual Report, https://elderaffairs.org/wp-
content/uploads/ADAC-Report-2023.pdf (last visited Jan. 17, 2024).
10
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Bulletin, Robert Schaefer and Julie McNiff, Awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease,
https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/awareness-of-alzheimers-disease (last visited Jan. 17, 2024). STORAGE NAME: h0801.CRJ PAGE: 3
DATE: 1/17/2024
Law Enforcement Training
Sections 943.11 and 943.12, F.S., create the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
(CJSTC) within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and require CJSTC to establish
uniform minimum training standards for the training of officers in the various criminal justice
disciplines.
11
Section 943.13, F.S., requires all law enforcement officer applicants to complete a
CJSTC-approved basic recruit training program.
12
After obtaining certification and as a condition of continued employment or appointment, s. 943.135,
F.S., requires law enforcement officers to receive at least 40 hours of CJSTC-approved continued
employment training (CET) every four years. The employing agency must document that the CET is
job-related and consistent with the needs of the employing agency, and report training completion to
the CJSTC through the Automated Training Management System.
13
Current Florida law requires FDLE to develop CET relating to various special topics, such as training
related to diabetic emergencies
14
, autism spectrum disorder
15
, and identifying and investigating elder
abuse and neglect
16
.
Section 943.17296, F.S., requires each certified law enforcement officer to complete training in
identifying and investigating elder abuse and neglect as a part of his or her basic recruit training or as
CET. Such training must include instruction on the identification of and appropriate responses to
persons suffering from dementia and on identifying and investigating elder abuse and neglect.
The CJSTC, however, does not currently offer specific post-basic training on Alzheimer’s disease or
related forms of dementia.
Effect of Proposed Changes
HB 801, creates s. 943.17299, F.S., to require FDLE to establish an online, continued employment
training component relating to Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia. The bill requires the
training component to be developed in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs and to include,
but not be limited to instruction on interacting with persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of
dementia, including instruction on techniques for:
Recognizing behavioral symptoms and characteristics;
Effective communication;
Employing alternatives to using physical restraints; and
Identifying signs of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
The bill provides that completion of the training component may count toward the 40 hours of
instruction required for continued employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2024.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: Creates s. 943.17299, F.S., relating to continued employment training relating to
Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia.
Section 2: Provides an effective date of July 1, 2024.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
11
S. 943.12(5), F.S.
12
S. 943.13(9), F.S.
13
FDLE, Agency Analysis of 2024 House Bill 801, p. 5 (Dec. 8, 2023)(on file with the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee).
14
S. 943.1726, F.S.
15
S. 943.1727, F.S.
16
S. 943.17296, F.S. STORAGE NAME: h0801.CRJ PAGE: 4
DATE: 1/17/2024
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
FDLE reports that the bill will have a negative fiscal impact on FDLE as the anticipated total cost to
develop and implement a new online, continued education training component relating to
Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia will cost approximately $11,000.
17
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not Applicable. This bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to spend funds or take
action requiring the expenditures of funds; reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have
to raise revenues in the aggregate; or reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or
municipalities.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
None.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
17
FDLE, supra at note 13.