Week In Review
November is Military Family Appreciation Month. As the holiday season approaches, it’s important that we remember to support the families of our brave soldiers—many of whom serve straight through the holidays protecting our freedom and America’s interests abroad. Our Brandon is currently serving…
With Halloween approaching this weekend, many Floridians are preparing to celebrate by getting costumes ready and purchasing candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters. But the celebration can quickly turn to real fright if planning and safety precautions are not part of the festivities. Ahead of…
This Saturday is the 21st National Drug Take Back Day. This biannual event provides a safe and responsible way to dispose of unused or unwanted pharmaceuticals, such as prescription opioids, that could otherwise fall into the wrong hands. By doing this simple act, you can help prevent drug abuse…
This week, I launched our brand-new nationwide law enforcement recruitment initiative, Be A Florida Hero. Our goal—encourage job seekers from across the country and within our own state to pursue law enforcement careers here in Florida. According to the National Police Foundation, a majority of…
This week, we launched the virtual 2021 Human Trafficking Summit! Every year, the Summit honors outstanding Floridians for their efforts to end human trafficking in Florida. This year is special because Floridians have rallied to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic to continue fighting this…
This week, my office took legal action against the Biden administration for ignoring federal immigration law and exacerbating the crisis at our nation’s Southern Border. The Biden administration’s brazen disregard for federal law is jeopardizing the safety and security of our state and nation,…
Two years ago, this week, we launched our Dose of Reality Florida website. It is designed to be a one-stop shop for Floridians to find information and resources about fighting back against opioid abuse and addiction. We created the comprehensive resource to help Floridians who may be affected by…
This week, I filed a brief in support of a suit filed by 200 City of Gainesville employees, including police officers, against the local government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate requires every city employee to be vaccinated or risk losing their job. I joined Governor Ron DeSantis at a…
This week, I joined Governor Ron DeSantis in support of our great law enforcement officers, sending a clear message to the rest of the nation that Florida is the most law-enforcement-friendly state in the nation. As the wife of a law enforcement officer, I have seen firsthand what it means to…
This week, I announced Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin as the keynote speaker for the virtual 2021 Human Trafficking Summit. Chris will be joined by his wife, Mariah, to kick off the launch of this year’s summit—which will include more than 15 hours of presentations by speakers…
This week, I met with attorneys general from across the nation, along with members of my Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, in separate meetings to discuss current trends in human trafficking and how we can work together to combat this abhorrent crime. That is what the upcoming 2021 Human…
As kids across Florida head back to school, and others are completing classwork online, it’s important to prepare them for success and safety—not just in the classroom, but in extracurricular activities, social settings and on the internet. As a parent myself, I know firsthand the challenges of…
This week, we announced a new partnership and tools to help solve crime. My office, along with the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association and the Florida Association of Crime Stoppers are joining together to distribute new promotional material for the statewide crime reporting tip line, **TIPS…
Florida students go back to school next week and as a mother, I know firsthand that sending your kids back to school is an exciting, yet stressful event. It takes a lot of planning and shopping to make sure your student has the supplies they need to succeed in the classroom. The good news is the…
This week, we celebrated two years of increasing law enforcement participation in the Bigs in Blue mentorship program. In 2019, we launched an intra-agency partnership with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to encourage…
This week, I continued our Thin Line Tribute with a stop at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Thin Line Tribute is an opportunity to thank our great local law enforcement officers by encouraging and supporting their dedicated service. Florida law enforcement serves as the backbone of stability in…
This week, we all carefully watched the projected track of Elsa as it approached the Florida coast. The first named storm to make landfall in our state this hurricane season, it brought heavy rain and wind to much of Florida’s peninsula. While the storm has passed, we should all remember to stay…
Unimaginable tragedy struck Florida last week as a high-rise condo in Surfside collapsed in the middle of the night. My heart breaks for all of those impacted by this unfathomable disaster, and my prayers are with their families and our first responders working around the clock to locate the…
This week has been absolutely tragic. My heart breaks for those struck by the devastation in Surfside and all of those impacted by this unfathomable disaster. Several tenants of the building have already passed, and many more are still unaccounted for at this time. Within minutes after the…
This week, I continued my Thin Line Tribute initiative in Perry to encourage and support the Perry Police Department. Our new initiative honors and recognizes the men and women who serve on the frontlines of law enforcement and often do not receive recognition for all they do to keep us safe. My…