Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog
Most people stopped by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer assume they are dealing with a game warden. They picture a narrow job. Check the license, measure the catch, write a ticket, move on. That assumption is wrong, and it produces arrests that a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney sees every week in Broward County court.
The Legislature Called Them Police Powers
Section 379.3311, Florida Statutes, is titled “Police powers of commission and its agents.” The title is not decorative. Subsection (1) constitutes FWC officers as peace officers with the power to make arrests for violations of the laws of this state, and it makes the general laws applicable to arrests by peace officers applicable to them.
FWC states the point plainly on its own website. The agency describes its sworn personnel as fully constituted police officers under Section 379.3311 with authority to enforce all laws of the state, not only those relating to fish and wildlife.
The jurisdiction is statewide. An FWC officer working the Intracoastal region of Broward County carries the same arrest authority as a Fort Lauderdale police officer on the streets. Section 379.3311(1) adds something no municipal officer has. It authorizes FWC officers to enter upon any land or waters of the state in performance of their lawful duties and declares that the entry does not constitute a trespass.
The Search Authority Comes With Conditions
Section 379.3311(2)(e) permits an officer to arrest without a warrant on probable cause and to examine any person, boat, conveyance, vehicle, game bag, or other receptacle for wildlife or marine life. Section 379.334 separately authorizes officers to board vessels and to enter fish houses, warehouses, and other buildings to search for and seize unlawfully held wildlife and gear without a warrant. Continue reading
