Jacksonville was selected for today's announcement because of the community's efforts to prevent gun crime and reduce the murder rate, which is the highest in Florida. Jacksonville is also home to the Attorney General's Child Predator/CyberCrime Unit, established by then-Attorney General Crist in August 2005 as a pilot project in response to several tragic murders of children in Florida.
"As the pople's governor, it is my job to keep Floridians safe, and I take that responsibility very seriously," said Crist. "My proposed budget reflects a comprehensive plan to help ensure the safety of all Floridians and keep criminals off our streets and away from our children."
The Anti-Murder Act will require brutal felony offenders who violate probation to return to jail until the court determines whether the individual poses a danger to the community. Crist proposes to strengthen Florida's existing cyber crime unit to increase investigation, enforcement and prosecution of sex offenders who use the Internet to solicit children for sex acts.
"We must continue to strengthen Florida's defenses against child predators," said Attorney General McCollum. "We must use every resource at our disposal to ensure the safety of our children and all residents."
"It is our duty to be responsive and effective in order to protect children from these predators," said Crist. "Strategically expanding the cyber crime unit by adding additional investigators and other staff members will help stop sex offenders before they prey on our children."
Unfortunately, Florida ranks third in the nation in the number of individuals distributing and promoting images of child pornography. Since its launch the unit has worked cooperatively with over 50 law enforcement agencies to execute over 40 search warrants, make 27 arrests and remove thousands of images of child pornography. Crist's proposal to expand the number of staff from 10 to 50 could increase the number of sexual predators arrested and prosecuted from 30 per year to more than 200 per year.
"Since Governor Crist began this initiative in the Office of the Attorney General, the Child Predator/CyberCrime Unit has been instrumental in preventing Internet crimes against children," said Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford. "By expanding this essential program we can do more to protect our children. We can continue to set the standard for the rest of the nation."
