Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) awards bonuses to Florida law enforcement officers.
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NewsTranscript
00:00that we have here today.
00:01We've got some good announcement here
00:04and shows that we're gonna continue
00:06to make progress on some of the things that we've said.
00:10And we've said, since the time I was governor,
00:13we're a law and order state.
00:14We're gonna support law enforcement,
00:16people that wear the uniform,
00:17and we're gonna make sure our laws are enforced.
00:20And we're never gonna let the inmates
00:21run the asylum in our state.
00:23And that's what's happened.
00:25And that's the right thing to do.
00:27But you've also had the backdrop
00:29for a number of years recently,
00:32where other states and cities around the country,
00:35they were doing the opposite.
00:37They were blaming law enforcement, treating them poorly,
00:40lax laws that really benefited repeat offenders.
00:44And you saw their cities decay as a result of this.
00:48Prosecutors wouldn't prosecute folks, letting people out.
00:52So that created a situation that was really intolerable
00:55for a lot of people.
00:56And heck, that's part of the reason
00:57people have moved to Florida.
00:58When people would come over the years,
01:01the realtors who'd sell them a home,
01:03they'd, why'd you come?
01:04And you'd think taxes, you know, a few years ago,
01:06you'd think, you know, wanna get out of the COVID nonsense
01:09from some of these other states.
01:11You'd think some of the stuff uneducated.
01:13And all those were true.
01:16But the number one thing they would say
01:18is they wanted public safety.
01:20And they weren't getting that where they were.
01:21And then they knew that they would get that
01:24here in the state of Florida.
01:26Well, one of the things as this was happening,
01:28we saw an opportunity for our state
01:31to capitalize off the bad policies
01:34of those other jurisdictions in a way
01:36that benefited Floridians.
01:38And so we started the Law Enforcement
01:40Recruitment Bonus Program that provides $5,000
01:44to all new recruits to all of our law enforcement agencies
01:47in the state of Florida.
01:48Not just sheriff's departments, police departments
01:50and our state agencies, whether it's FDLE,
01:53Highway Patrol, you name it.
01:56We saw an opportunity that if you're being treated poorly
01:59in San Francisco or New York City or all these places,
02:03then you come to Florida, $5,000 to start.
02:06But then more importantly than that,
02:08you'll be in a community that supports your mission.
02:11But we also wanted to apply those bonuses
02:13to folks in Florida who are new to law enforcement.
02:18It had been frowned upon in a lot of these other states,
02:21denigrated as something that you shouldn't wanna do.
02:24And honestly, if I was treated that way
02:26in some of these other states,
02:27I wouldn't wanna do it either.
02:29But in Florida, we wanted to send a different message
02:31to say no, we will reward this career choice.
02:35We think this is a noble calling.
02:37And so if you're doing it,
02:38maybe you're doing something else.
02:39If you decide to go into law enforcement,
02:41whether it's at a sheriff's department,
02:43police department, state,
02:44you're also eligible for the $5,000 bonus.
02:47So I think it's been really successful
02:49in both of those ways to recruit people from other states,
02:53but also to channel more talented people,
02:57and continue to channel talented people
02:59into law enforcement in the state of Florida.
03:02And the $5,000 is nice.
03:05It's helpful.
03:06It doesn't go as far as it used to
03:07before we had all the inflation, but it is helpful.
03:11But I think more than that,
03:12people, when they see you get a $5,000 bonus,
03:14it just sends a signal that state of Florida has your back.
03:17And that is probably more important than the money for folks
03:21and we're proud to be able to be there.
03:23So we are here today.
03:26We're gonna be able to announce a new round of checks
03:29that are going out for the new recruits.
03:31But at first, I would just like to say,
03:33you have the legislature in session now.
03:36There's different things on this budget,
03:38that budget, all this other stuff.
03:40We have allocated in our recommendations
03:44pay increases for more than 4,700
03:47state sworn law enforcement officers,
03:50as well as 730 state firefighters,
03:5320% increases for entry level
03:55and 25% increases for veterans under this proposal.
04:00And that's like Highway Patrol, FDLE, all those.
04:03Now, obviously we don't set the budget for the local,
04:05that's you guys, but we do do for state.
04:08And I think that that's something that is warranted.
04:12We've been sending Highway Patrol to the border
04:14under Biden to help and some of our FDLE.
04:17Now we have all those agencies are working with ICE
04:20to do immigration enforcement
04:22and we're leading the country in that.
04:24So, as well as normal duties.
04:27So this is something that's really, really important
04:29and it's got my full support to be able to get that done.
04:34But we're here today because we've reached a new milestone
04:38in our Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program.
04:41We've now awarded over 7,800 bonuses through this program.
04:47And that's really, really significant.
04:49And so we have about 700 checks in the mail
04:59and on their way to new law enforcement officers
05:03across the state in this most recent tranche.
05:06I do have 12 of them here for these Marion County deputies
05:10who are gonna get their recruitment bonuses.
05:12And I'm excited that we're able to do this.
05:14I talked to the sheriffs and police chiefs,
05:17they'll go up to some of these places,
05:19they'll go up to NYPD and say,
05:21hey, come down to Florida, they'll do this.
05:23I remember I was down in,
05:24I was in Southern California a couple of years ago.
05:26We had already done this program.
05:27We had already kind of put our flag on the ground
05:30and people were looking to us
05:31as being a great law enforcement state.
05:33And I was talking to a police chief
05:35and like a nice place in Southern California.
05:36I was like, how's it going?
05:37He's like, well, I'm doing great.
05:39I just have every single one of my police officers
05:42wants to move to Florida now
05:43because of what you guys are doing.
05:45And that's saying something because,
05:46going from a place like Southern California,
05:48which has historically been one of the places
05:50people wanna go to come to Florida.
05:53But I can tell you, I think what we're doing
05:55has made the folks in Florida safer.
06:00Our support at the state level,
06:01like I said yesterday, we had the sheriffs
06:03for the Hope Florida stuff.
06:05I could have the greatest policies at the state level.
06:08You gotta have folks on the ground who are doing it.
06:10And our folks do it very well here.
06:13Our sheriff's departments, our police departments.
06:15But you can have great sheriff's departments,
06:17police departments.
06:18If you have a leadership that's trying to undercut you,
06:21or in some cases even stab you in the back,
06:23like you see in some of these places,
06:25then it's gonna be very hard.
06:26So it's really a team effort.
06:28We've set the leadership and the policy.
06:30There's been great execution at the local level
06:33and Florida's better off for it.
06:34But it's also set a tone that's gone
06:37beyond the state of Florida.
06:38I mean, I remember I was a couple of years ago,
06:41I'm in San Francisco, walking.
06:44And this was kind of like, they had cameras.
06:47We were like profiling, like what happens
06:49when you have really bad policies?
06:51You know, they talk about the defecation
06:53on the sidewalks and stuff.
06:54Literally, I was there five minutes and I see it.
06:57And then when you see it, it's kind of jarring.
06:59Because you're not used to seeing it.
06:59People just using drugs in the middle of public.
07:04And so it was kind of jarring.
07:06And so I'm walking the street, I got some cameras.
07:07So people kind of knew something was going on.
07:09Some of the kind of run-of-the-mill
07:11San Franciscans recognized me.
07:15Some of them may have had some choice words for me.
07:17But you know, it's a liberal city, what are you gonna do?
07:19So that was fine.
07:21But then, we're walking and on the other side,
07:24there's San Francisco PD.
07:27And these guys kind of do a beeline over.
07:29And I didn't know what to expect.
07:30And they're just like, you know, we just wanna thank you.
07:33You know, you're fighting for us.
07:34You know, all the way in Florida, they appreciated
07:37because that wasn't what they were getting at that time
07:39from the city or from the state.
07:41So what we're doing in Florida is meaningful.
07:43Not just for the folks that are gonna receive the checks.
07:45Not just for the veteran law enforcement personnel
07:49who work hard every day.
07:50Not just for our own citizens
07:52who are the primary beneficiaries of this.
07:54But I think we've really set a standard
07:56that other states are now trying to follow.
07:59And it's much harder for the states
08:01that have gone opposite of Florida
08:02to justify why they're doing what they're doing
08:05when you have such poor results to show for it.
08:08So I wanna thank everybody that's been involved.
08:10This is really, really good.
08:12This'll be the total amount awarded.
08:15So the 5,000 is after taxes.
08:18When we did the $1,000 bonuses
08:20for every law enforcement during COVID,
08:22you know, they're sending me all this money.
08:24I'm like, well, I'm fine.
08:25Like, you know, at the time, I couldn't send it back
08:28because if I sent it back, they could send it to blue states.
08:31I was like, well, why would I do that?
08:33So we did the law enforcement bonuses
08:36and we did that $1,000 after taxes.
08:38That was every sworn law enforcement,
08:39firefighter, EMT in Florida got that three years in a row
08:43in the state of Florida.
08:44And that was at a time when people
08:45were really treating them poorly around the country.
08:47The $5,000 bonus is 5,000 after taxes as well.
08:51So it actually per individual is more than that
08:54in terms of the program's cost.
08:56In pocket, they get $5,000.
08:58So it'll be $53 million to date.
09:01We'll hear from the sheriff,
09:03but I can tell you everybody that I've spoken with
09:06has used this as a valuable tool
09:08to recruit good people into their agencies.
09:11And, you know, used to be, you go back like 30 years,
09:14like, man, people would line up
09:16to be able to work in law enforcement.
09:18And then I think what's happened is over the years,
09:20you know, there's a lot of other factors of the economy,
09:22but, you know, when you have like the media
09:26and these political people
09:28that are always attacking law enforcement,
09:31it's kind of like, okay, well,
09:32is that something that I want to do?
09:33And people think about it.
09:35And I think what we've done in Florida
09:37is really say, no, this is good.
09:39And so people have great opportunities here
09:42to really have a meaningful career.
09:44So I'm just glad that it's working out.
09:46I know we've got more to do,
09:47but I want to thank everybody that's been involved.
09:49So we're going to hand out the checks in a minute.
09:51First, I want Billy to come up
09:54and then we'll hear from one of our deputies.
09:55So sheriff.
09:57Thank you, governor.
09:58First of all, for the visitors here, welcome.
10:00And also, I know this will come to surprise welcome media.
10:03I'm glad you're here, but thank you for being here today.
10:07It is an honor to stand before you
10:09as the sheriff of Marion County.
10:11And it is even a greater honor to stand here
10:13with our great governor and be joined by him.
10:16And as today, governor Ron DeSantis.
10:28Governor, on behalf of my entire office
10:31and the citizens of Marion County,
10:33I want to extend our deepest thanks
10:36for your continued support for law enforcement,
10:39not just in words, but in real actions.
10:45The recruitment bonuses that my deputies
10:48will receive here today isn't just a check, okay?
10:52It's a statement.
10:53It tells the men and women in uniform
10:58that their choice to serve and protect matters.
11:02Now, the governor's right.
11:03Now, we sheriffs talk about it all the time.
11:05Bonuses like this, initiatives like this
11:08is what helps us hire individuals.
11:10He's absolutely correct.
11:12We send them all over this nation.
11:15My recruiting team is here.
11:16My recruiting team, I told him a few minutes ago,
11:19I've sent them to New York.
11:21I had them plant a flag right there
11:23on their front door steps and said,
11:25to hire them as they walked out the door.
11:28So it works, governor.
11:29It definitely works.
11:31You know, that commitment and sacrifice
11:35are seen and valued by the highest levels
11:38of leadership in this state.
11:41Now, media has heard me sometimes talk about this,
11:44and other times I've had the opportunity
11:47to get up in front of cameras.
11:49But I always say, the state of Florida
11:51is a cut above any other state, okay?
11:56It's as simple as that.
11:57We are.
11:59Reason is, is because of the leadership in which we have.
12:03The leadership we have in a governor
12:06that recognizes the safety of his citizens
12:09in the entire state.
12:11The leadership in our legislation,
12:13in the House and the Senate,
12:15from our President Albritton and the Speaker Perez,
12:20these individuals, and all of them through that line,
12:23every one of them.
12:24Now, him and I will tell you,
12:26they're not always agreeing.
12:28It's just like brothers and sisters.
12:29We don't always agree, right?
12:32But however, we all collectively come together
12:34to recognize what is important,
12:36and that's the safety of the state of Florida.
12:40Governor, since taking office,
12:41you have always backed the badge.
12:44You've invested in public safety.
12:47That kind of leadership sends a powerful message,
12:50not only to my deputies, but to our entire community,
12:54which is, Florida stands with law enforcement,
12:57which means a lot to each and every one of us.
12:59Now, to my new deputies receiving these checks,
13:02wear your star with pride.
13:05You know, you've heard me say this,
13:08and I'll continue to say it.
13:10You've joined a team, a family,
13:12and a calling that demands the very best from all of us.
13:16And thanks to Governor DeSantis,
13:18you're starting your careers with the full backing
13:21of a state that believes in you.
13:25Governor, thank you again for your steadfast commitment
13:29to public safety and for helping us build a stronger,
13:32safer Marion County.
13:35We look forward to continuing this partnership
13:37in service of the people we've sworn to protect.
13:42God bless you, and God bless this great state of ours.
13:46Appreciate it.
13:49Thank you, Sheriff.
13:52Appreciate the job you're doing.
13:53Arcade Deputy Thomas Watson, where you at?
13:57Come on.
14:00Thank you, Sheriff.
14:01Thank you, Governor.
14:03When I first received the call from Major Polford,
14:06I seen his name come up on my phone,
14:08and I thought I'm either in a lot of trouble
14:10or I did something really good,
14:12or he's calling to find out
14:13why I wasn't in the gym that day.
14:16We didn't talk about the gym,
14:17and I haven't decided if this is a punishment
14:20or something good.
14:23Just kidding.
14:25So Major Polford, and we spoke on the phone,
14:27he told me he had an opportunity for me.
14:30He asked if I wanted to take this opportunity to speak,
14:33and not gonna lie, I'm terrified of public speaking,
14:37but this is an incredible opportunity.
14:40I was told that I would speak about why Marion County,
14:43why law enforcement, well, why law enforcement?
14:47Short answer is, God put me here.
14:51Long answer is, I was an EMT for nine years before this.
14:55Always wanted to serve my community.
14:58I worked for a retirement community down in Leesburg
15:01called Hawthorne at Leesburg Resident Co-op.
15:05I worked there for nine years,
15:07and throughout those nine years,
15:08I attempted to leave several times
15:11to a municipal fire department.
15:13That was always my dream.
15:15And each time I would pray,
15:17I would say the same prayer with my wife.
15:19Lord, if this is not a blessing from you,
15:21please shut the door before it even begins.
15:24And each time, he did,
15:26in a miraculous way that doesn't make sense.
15:29And so I began to become depressed,
15:31because I thought that was my calling,
15:33and he kept closing the door on me.
15:36Then I met a good friend of mine,
15:39current deputy, Joe Anthony.
15:42And he told me about his dream of law enforcement.
15:46And in his home country, he could not,
15:48because his parents would not allow him.
15:50Then he moved to America, became a citizen,
15:53and fulfilled that dream.
15:55And seeing him fulfill his dream ignited something in me.
15:59And it got me making jokes, actually,
16:01about being in law enforcement.
16:03And for three months, I would make jokes to my wife.
16:06What it would look like putting on this uniform,
16:08instead of a fire uniform.
16:11And we'd watch TV, Hawaii Five-0, SVU,
16:14and I know it's not the same,
16:15but I would just sit there and watch it,
16:17and I would just make jokes.
16:18Hey, that might be me.
16:21Then after three months, I looked to her,
16:23I said, what if?
16:25What if this is God's plan for me?
16:28And she said, you're not joking, are you?
16:30And I said, no, I've been praying for three months.
16:34And so we prayed together for three more months.
16:37Then one day, I was at work, and I'm praying,
16:41Lord, if this is the right path for me,
16:46tell my wife, because she'll tell me.
16:48I kid you not.
16:52I say amen, she texts me.
16:55I don't remember the exact text,
16:56but it was to the effect of,
16:58honey, I know that there are dangers with this job.
17:03You will be shot at, possibly killed, injured.
17:06People will hate you, disrespect you.
17:09But I have a peace from God
17:12that he's gonna be with you through the whole time.
17:16And so in that moment, I could do nothing
17:19but lift my hands up to the Lord and worship him.
17:22And I submitted my application that moment.
17:26That's why law enforcement, now why Marion County Sheriffs.
17:31Well, first, they sponsored me to go through,
17:32and that's a big thing for me.
17:34I'm married, I have two kids, I have a family to think about.
17:37I couldn't just upend that
17:40and the good pay I was receiving at my last job.
17:43But they sponsored me.
17:45Even though it was a huge pay cut,
17:47I could see the light at the end of the tunnel
17:49and the beginning of prosperity.
17:53The academy was six months long.
17:55It was hard at times, seemed impossible.
17:59But my wife would constantly pray over me and bless me.
18:04Secondly, Ocala, Florida is my home.
18:07Marion County, I was born here, raised here.
18:09Went K through 12 here.
18:12Graduated from Vanguard High School.
18:15Marion County Sheriff's Office
18:17is known throughout the community.
18:21Some good, some bad.
18:23It's just the way it is.
18:24Mostly positive, though.
18:25Almost everything I've ever heard has been positive
18:28from members in my church, including my pastor,
18:30my friends, my family, but more importantly,
18:34deputies that actually work here.
18:36And they all say the same thing,
18:39that Billy Woods is an amazing sheriff
18:41that genuinely and sincerely loves and supports his staff.
18:45And having that support is paramount in this job.
18:49And that's why I chose Marion County Sheriff.
18:53I'll leave you with this.
18:54I'll leave you with this.
18:56My Lord Jesus Christ says in John 15, 13,
18:59greater love hath no man than this,
19:01that a man may lay down his life for his friends.
19:05Good job.
19:07Do you need a name?
19:08Is this in this order?
19:09Do you?
19:10Yes, sir.
19:11Okay.
19:15All right, the governor's now gonna give them
19:16each their checks.
19:17First off is Deputy Thomas Watson.
19:24Deputy Courtney Cole.
19:29Deputy Salvatore Bassisi.
19:34Deputy Wade Young.
19:39Deputy Antonio Gibbs.
19:44Deputy Kenneth Stevens.
19:48Deputy Maynard Kenton.
19:50Deputy Brittany Knipe.
19:55Deputy Michael Minu.
20:00Deputy Giovanni Rodriguez.
20:05Deputy Keith Brickman.
20:10And Deputy Gage Clements.
20:15And Governor, two of them, one's a Marine,
20:18and one's a Navy.
20:19Okay, good deal.
20:20Well, thank you.
20:21I always say to the Navy and Marines now,
20:26since December, I guess, 8th,
20:29it's good to be on the winning team
20:31in the RV Navy game for a change,
20:32because we had a few years where we weren't doing so hot.
20:35But I think you can see,
20:36you know, we've got great quality individuals
20:38that have participated in this program.
20:41A sheriff like Sheriff Woods have used this program
20:44to help us out.
20:45Sheriff Woods have used this program
20:47to better their organizations
20:49and ultimately to keep their communities safe.
20:52And that's what it's all about.
20:53So I want to thank everybody that's been involved
20:55in establishing and continuing this program.
20:58It's really made a difference.
21:00And I know that it's changed a lot of lives of the folks.
21:03And I don't know if you guys have anybody,
21:06but I've never met anyone that made the trip to Florida
21:09to work in law enforcement who regrets it.
21:11So once you find someone, let me know.
21:14Okay, we got any questions?
21:16Yes, sir.
21:17So this is an important question here.
21:20Do you support that bill that decouples
21:25live thoroughbred racing from gambling
21:27and Gulfstream and Tampa Bay downtown?
21:31I have not endorsed that bill.
21:34I know there's different bills floating around.
21:36I kind of, my practice is typically,
21:39let's let this thing work through.
21:41And then if it lands on my desk,
21:43then I'll come out with a decision one way or another on it.
21:47I mean, I will say that, you know,
21:50if you put Florida first,
21:52then you're looking to make sure
21:54that Floridians can be successful.
21:56And the horse breeding is part of our state's culture.
22:00It's part of the culture here.
22:01I'm concerned with some of the things I hear
22:04about these proposals,
22:05about what that would mean for the viability
22:07of that going forward.
22:09But we'll let the process work out
22:11and we'll see how it ends up.
22:13Your reaction on the election last night,
22:15especially Randy Fine winning the district?
22:18Well, what happened with the Randy Fine
22:20is exactly what I said.
22:21He would win, but underperform.
22:23And that's what happened.
22:24President won that by 30 points in 24.
22:27I won it by 35 plus points in 2022.
22:31Fine is out there saying he won by the same margin I did.
22:34That is a total, total lie.
22:37I won by more than twice that he did in 2022.
22:41And so what happened there,
22:44the media is saying, oh, you know,
22:46Republicans had to spend money and they did.
22:49They spent millions and millions of dollars in 24,
22:52not one cent had to be spent in outside money
22:55in this district.
22:56I don't know if this, are we actually in this,
22:58that district?
22:59I know he's got part of Marion,
23:00so it's a little over there.
23:02And so the fact that money had to be spent,
23:04you know, that's not a good thing.
23:06This should have been a going away.
23:08And what happened was,
23:09and so, but the media is trying to say,
23:11oh, see, it shows,
23:12I think the Wall Street Journal said something about,
23:14this is like an anti-MAGA backlash.
23:17I don't think that's true at all for this district.
23:19I think you have a candidate in Randy Fine who,
23:22one, he's a squish, okay?
23:25He supported restrictions on Second Amendment rights
23:28back in 2018.
23:29He tried to defeat my immigration proposal
23:33to help President Trump enforce immigration laws.
23:36And he tried to enact a de facto,
23:38make Florida a de facto sanctuary state.
23:41So when people see that,
23:43our base voters don't get excited about that.
23:46You're not giving them a reason to go out and vote.
23:48And he's also, just the way he conducts himself,
23:51is somebody, he repels people.
23:53He's repelled people in the legislature.
23:55He's repelled, they wanted to get him
23:57out of the legislature,
23:58so they asked me to put him up
23:59for Florida Atlantic president, and I did,
24:01and the whole board would have resigned
24:03rather than make him president.
24:04And so now he's gonna be in Congress.
24:06I mean, like, you know, it is what it is.
24:07So it was unique problems with this candidate
24:11that was causing this to be a close race.
24:13And I think it was trending to be a lot closer.
24:15Then what happened was,
24:17they put in a lot of money on the Republican side,
24:19four or $5 million in a Trump plus 30 seat.
24:24You shouldn't have to do, but they did.
24:25And then the president did a couple teletown halls
24:28where he said, listen, for my agenda,
24:30we need you to go out and vote.
24:32So I think the election day turnout was really good
24:34for a special election for Republicans in the district.
24:38And I attribute that to President Trump's intervention.
24:40I think these are voters who didn't like Randy Fine,
24:43but who basically were like, you know what,
24:44we're gonna take one for the team.
24:46President needs another vote up there,
24:48and so we're gonna do it.
24:50So I would not read into the underperformance
24:53that this is somehow a referendum on MAGA or Trump.
24:57I think it was a unique issue
24:59with this particular candidate.
25:01You know, the Democrats,
25:02the Democrats groups didn't spend any money.
25:05It was this one candidate raised money through ActBlue,
25:08but a lot of that is basically a fraud, it's a scam.
25:11And so how much money he spent,
25:13he probably spent a few million,
25:14but they spent more than that for fine.
25:17So I just view it as, it's an underperformance.
25:21I think it's unique to the candidate,
25:23and the president really had to bail him out at the end
25:26because this race would have been much closer
25:28had the president sat on the sidelines.
25:30And so if anything, it shows, you know,
25:32the president's got the juice
25:33to be able to get Republicans to go out on election day
25:36and even vote for a candidate that they're not crazy about.
25:40You know, this guy, I mean, he doesn't,
25:41he lives like 150 miles away from the district.
25:44It's just an odd fit on that.
25:46But I do think that it was,
25:48there were unique circumstances in that CD6 race.
25:52So when people are trying to spin that to fit their agenda,
25:56I don't think you can.
25:57I think it was more of a local thing.
25:58I mean, this is a guy who's 150,
26:00he lived 150 miles from the district.
26:01And people say, well, how do you know local issues?
26:03He said, there are no local issues in the district.
26:05Well, I can tell you just as governor,
26:07you go around the state,
26:08there are local issues for sure
26:10that you got to contend with.
26:11Yes.
26:13Now, Mr. Sensen had the same kind of reduction
26:17in margin up in the panhandle.
26:19What accounts for that, for that?
26:22I think so.
26:23One, I don't know for sure,
26:24but I think the difference is
26:26there was no money spent on behalf of Jimmy Petronas.
26:31There was 5 million spent on behalf of Randy Fine.
26:34If they had spent 5 million on Petronas,
26:37he would have had a bigger margin.
26:38The turnout would have been better on election day.
26:41But I think a lot of Republican voters,
26:43I think they liked Jimmy.
26:44I think it was just,
26:44they knew that the race was gonna go red.
26:47And so some of them didn't vote.
26:49You know, our voters,
26:50we haven't done as well in special elections
26:52getting our voters out generally.
26:53So I think the emphasis was really on the Randy Fine seat
26:57rather than Jimmy's seat.
26:59And Jimmy did get outspent pretty significantly.
27:02Randy did not get outspent
27:03if you count the PAC money that came in to support him.
27:07There was millions and millions of dollars
27:09that came in to support him at the end.
27:12So I think you gotta,
27:13when you look at these races and you're comparing margins,
27:17if you don't have money behind you,
27:19your margin's gonna be less
27:20because not as many people know the election
27:22and all this stuff.
27:23So I attribute that to that.
27:26I think if they had put the same amount of effort
27:29in terms of bringing money in,
27:30I think Jimmy's margin would have been better.
27:32But he'll do a good job.
27:33I mean, he's,
27:36you know, that was not necessarily his district
27:39when he was a House member.
27:40So a lot of people didn't know him from that,
27:42but they did know him from being CFO.
27:45But there's actual challenges of law enforcement
27:49besides just battling the bad guys.
27:52It seems like they have another challenge
27:54and that is dealing with some of the societal issues
27:57like those that are mentally ill.
28:00Do you see the state coming up with any solutions
28:03that would maybe help tackle that subject
28:07and get resources so that it's not off-hauling?
28:11So I would refer you to our event we did yesterday
28:14with Sheriff Woods and the other Florida sheriffs
28:16about Hope, Florida.
28:17So what we were able to announce is that all 67 sheriffs
28:20now have a Hope, Florida liaison in their offices.
28:24What does Hope, Florida do?
28:25This was spearheaded by our first lady, Casey DeSantis,
28:28to recognize, and it started with child welfare,
28:32but the model has expanded to other areas,
28:35that just simply having a government program
28:38and having a bureaucrat try to find programs
28:42for people to get on and stay on,
28:44ultimately that's not expanding that person's horizons.
28:47That's not helping them achieve
28:49a pathway to self-sufficiency.
28:51So her insight was that's more of a great society,
28:54more on poverty, LBJ, left approach.
28:58Our approach needs to embrace the faith community,
29:01embrace our charities, embrace businesses
29:03that wanna be philanthropic,
29:05embrace individuals who wanna lend a helping hand
29:07in their community.
29:08So when she created Hope, Florida,
29:10the insight is let's transform those bureaucrats
29:14into navigators so when someone comes in a need,
29:17their job is not to try to get them on government program,
29:19but to navigate them to all the resources
29:21that are already available in the community.
29:23And so you don't have to participate in Hope, Florida,
29:25but we've got all these churches that are connected.
29:28We've got synagogues, we've got charities.
29:30So they're all part of Hope, Florida network.
29:32People's needs can get put into a portal,
29:34and then it goes out to all these great stakeholders
29:37in the community, and guess what?
29:39If someone's in need and a church answers the call,
29:43the chance that that person is gonna have stability
29:46and have a pathway to be productive goes up dramatically
29:49than if you're just interacting with a bureaucracy.
29:52So since Hope, Florida has been enacted,
29:55or since we've done the portal and everything,
29:58we've gotten 30,000 people off of welfare,
30:02and we've saved the state $100 million.
30:04And so that...
30:06So how that relates to this,
30:12so now you have a Hope, Florida liaison.
30:14The people that know what's going on in the community
30:17more than anyone are law enforcement.
30:19They're out on patrol, they're responding to calls.
30:23You may get a call, domestic disturbance,
30:25like an apartment complex,
30:26but then you see other things that may be going on,
30:29and you interact with people that have issues.
30:32Well, now you're in a situation where,
30:35and I think the sheriff would agree with this,
30:38a lot of the people that do eventually end up
30:40in law enforcement do have some type
30:42of mental health background.
30:44Not all of them.
30:46I don't even know most, but a lot, for sure a lot.
30:49And so if there's an intervention earlier,
30:51you could potentially avert that.
30:53Well, now with the Hope, Florida liaison,
30:55you have an ability to find somebody that's in need
30:59and to get that out into all these great organizations
31:03and churches and individuals who wanna lend a helping hand.
31:07So the sheriff's departments are gonna be
31:10really, really critical in this,
31:11and that will also mean less work for them
31:14three years later, because with no intervention,
31:17this person may start committing crimes.
31:19So I think it's a great model.
31:20I think these guys are gonna have an awful lot to do.
31:23Now, not every county in Florida
31:25has the same amount of resources
31:27in terms of what the churches are offering
31:30or what the private organizations are offering,
31:33but we've got a lot, a lot to offer
31:36in the state of Florida.
31:37And part of it, and this is an insight
31:39that anyone that's dealt with government gets this.
31:42I remember when I was leaving active duty in the Navy,
31:45I didn't need anything.
31:46I was fine, but a lot of people,
31:48when they're transitioning from military to civilian,
31:50it's a big deal, and they don't know.
31:51So they give you a packet of stuff.
31:54Now, this is 15, 20 years ago, whenever,
31:56and I get this packet, and I had advanced,
32:01I mean, I can understand stuff,
32:03and it was mind-numbing bureaucracy.
32:06I was like, how the hell does anyone,
32:07would anyone even know where to go to get help
32:10if they're trying, if they need a help
32:11as they leave the military in this?
32:13Our veterans, they get paralyzed with bureaucracy,
32:17all these other programs.
32:19And so it's like, there's help out there,
32:20but people just don't necessarily know where to go.
32:23And now, when you have this as kind of a hub
32:27for all these great resources in our community,
32:29and yes, we wanna save taxpayer money, of course we do.
32:32But more importantly, we just know those other ways
32:35are more likely to work
32:36and more likely to actually help people.
32:39And yes, there's more liberal states that wince,
32:43that we're enlisting the faith community in this.
32:46You know what, what I tell them is, go pound sand.
32:49These faith communities are part of the way
32:51you lift people up.
32:53No one's gotta go.
32:54I mean, if your church helps you,
32:55you're not under any obligation
32:57to attend that church in the future, of course not.
32:59And they're not even, no one's even asking that.
33:02But there are people who find themselves in predicaments
33:06because they're devoid of something
33:08that's really meaningful spiritually.
33:10And so you have folks that can do that,
33:13and it's soul craft as well as helping people
33:17get involved in society and get back on their feet.
33:20So look at that press conference yesterday.
33:23We have it on our social sites.
33:25First lady articulated.
33:27We had Sheriff Permel,
33:28who's the head of the Sheriff's Association,
33:31come in and talk about it.
33:32And then we had one of our state senators.
33:34But I think this is a great model.
33:36And I'm not saying it can solve
33:38every single problem under the sun.
33:40But when you have deputies
33:42encountering some of these things,
33:44I would imagine if you talk to them,
33:46they will encounter situations
33:48and see people in community
33:50who have not necessarily committed a crime
33:53or they don't have probable cause to think,
33:55but they just know things
33:56are not gonna go well with them, right?
33:58Well, you can't arrest them
33:59if they haven't done anything wrong or you don't see it.
34:02So then it's just, you kind of just hope
34:04that they're not gonna do anything in the future.
34:05Well, now you have an ability
34:07to have a positive intervention.
34:08It doesn't involve the criminal justice system.
34:11That involves using the resources in society.
34:13So having a liaison for Hope, Florida is a huge, huge thing.
34:18We now have all 67 sheriffs on that.
34:21And incidentally, we're the only state in the country
34:23that has immigration enforcement agreements
34:26with the Trump administration
34:28in all 67 counties in the state of Florida.
34:31So we're not a sanctuary state.
34:34We don't allow sanctuary cities,
34:37but we're also more than just not a sanctuary.
34:41We're positively making a difference.
34:44We have task force where you have sheriffs, deputies,
34:47police officers, state, ICE, all this stuff.
34:50And the reality is Biden, he opened the floodgates
34:55and intentionally brought in a lot of people.
34:57There was no vetting on anybody.
35:00We have no idea.
35:01It also is just a situation where it creates burdens
35:05on society to have so many people showing up.
35:07Like we can't, we can't.
35:09So this has been really, really positive,
35:11but we have all 67 counties, all state agencies,
35:14law enforcement agencies,
35:16and now we're working through the police departments
35:18to have them have this.
35:20Now Sheriff Woods would have done this anyways,
35:23but we did do when we did the special session.
35:26And you know, the Florida House of Representatives
35:28was opposed to me.
35:29We eventually got it done.
35:31But you know, we said your duty as law enforcement
35:34in the state of Florida is to be on the team
35:38and to help with federal immigration enforcement.
35:40And even some people that are more nominally conservative
35:43or Republican, some of those folks
35:44didn't necessarily want to be involved in it.
35:46And so we have a duty.
35:48We had the Fort Myers police did an agreement with ICE
35:52and the city council wouldn't approve it,
35:55but we have a duty to follow the law.
35:57So we just said very calmly, you know,
35:59the policy debate about whether you should work with ICE
36:03is over in the state of Florida.
36:04We've enacted the law to say you must.
36:07So you have an opportunity to govern yourself accordingly.
36:10And so they reversed that decision
36:12and then they did approve the agreement with ICE.
36:15But a lot of this would not have been happening
36:17had we not gotten that legislation through
36:19a couple months ago.
36:21I saw the need for a special session
36:23and I knew we had to get it done early.
36:25So we're now ahead of the curve in Florida.
36:27DHS is looking for us as kind of the model
36:30as to how to work with states
36:31to be able to make sure
36:33that we're enforcing our immigration laws.
36:36And I can tell you it's gonna be better for the state
36:41for across many, many boards.
36:43I mean, obviously we find people that are victims of crime
36:46from illegal alien, but you also just have healthcare costs,
36:51schools, traffic, accidents, all these different things.
36:56All those problems get alleviated
36:58when you have enforcement of immigration law.
37:00We have in the United States,
37:02they think close to a million illegal aliens
37:05that are under final orders of deportation.
37:09So you hear the media say, oh, President Trump,
37:12he's taking a Venezuelan gang member
37:15and sending them to El Salvador without due process.
37:17Well, first of all, you're due process.
37:19If you're here illegally and they catch you,
37:22like what are we supposed to do?
37:24Do a nine month OJ Simpson trial to figure that out?
37:27Like we know you're here illegally.
37:29But put that aside.
37:30If you're someone that's a stickler
37:32for all this due process in that situation,
37:35these people have already gone through all the process.
37:38They have final orders pending.
37:40And in Florida, we think at least 40,000, maybe 50,
37:43maybe even more are here in Florida, final orders.
37:47So we're working with these folks.
37:49Let's find those folks and do that.
37:52How could you disagree with that at that point
37:55when they've already gone through
37:56all the different process?
37:57So I think it's, I mean, Biden,
38:00he would fly illegals into the country and release them.
38:03I mean, seriously, he would fly and release.
38:07And I'm just thinking to myself,
38:08why are, well, they're doing it
38:10because they think that's the way to change the country.
38:12That was why he was doing it.
38:14I mean, you literally, you're gonna show up in Haiti
38:16or some of these places, load up people
38:18who don't have a right to be here,
38:20bring them here and grant them parole.
38:22How is that benefiting you as Americans?
38:25It's not, it's part of a different agenda.
38:28Now, he may not have been the one signing the orders.
38:31It was an auto pen.
38:32So I don't know who programmed the auto pen,
38:35but it was true for four years.
38:37It was whoever's loading the teleprompter,
38:39whoever's wielding the auto pen
38:40was the de facto president of the United States.
38:43I'm glad those days are over,
38:45but the reality is there was a lot of damage done.
38:47So Florida law enforcement is playing a huge, huge role
38:52in solving this problem
38:54that we've been complaining about for many, many decades.
38:57And so I wanna thank them for being on the team.
39:00We had to work hard to get where we are
39:03and you're gonna see a lot, I think, of positive stuff
39:06in the ensuing weeks and months.
39:07Thanks, everybody.
39:09Thanks, guys.
39:11Appreciate you.