TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A person crossing county lines to commit a burglary would be subject to enhanced charges under a bill passed by the Senate Tuesday.
The measure (HB 427), which passed 25 to 15, would allow prosecutors to push for a more serious penalty for felony burglary committed by cross-county criminals.
The ability to beef up the charges could also allow judges to ask for higher bond for a suspect, as well as potentially longer or more severe sentences, which are loosely dictated by state law according to the degree of the crime.
For example, under the proposed law, a third-degree burglary could become a second-degree charge if the suspect lives in Miami-Dade County and goes into Broward, commits a burglary, then heads back home.
Opponents of the bill said it would add an unnecessary law to the books as crime is dropping.
“The crime rate in Florida has dropped because of good policing and ample prosecution,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. “Today it’s county lines, tomorrow it will be zip codes.”
Added Sen. Maria Lorts Sachs, D-Delray Beach: “Let us not vote for a bill that targets Floridians.”
The measure provides wide latitude to allow law enforcement to determine county of residence, including place of employment or where a person is enrolled in school.
The bill was filed last year at the behest of Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, a former Miami police officer and state representative.
Snyder claimed his department was besieged by criminals who were crossing county lines.
“We have this phenomena here in Martin County, and most counties in the state of Florida have this as well,” Snyder told radio station WFSU in Tallahassee. “And, that is we have traveling burglars that have been dubbed ’the pillowcase burglars’ because they break into houses near interstates and ransack the house for small valuables, such as guns, jewelry, and cash, and put the items in a pillowcase and then leave.”
The bill had initially sought to tack an additional felony charge to any felony committed across county lines, but was amended in its last stages to allow only enhanced charges and apply it only to burglaries.
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