DeSantis fulfills pledge for law-enforcement bonuses after Ian

One way he pledged to do so was to push through a funding bill in the GOP-controlled legislature, offering $5,000 ‘sign-on bonuses’ to new officers who relocated to Florida.

DeSantis made good on his pledge on Friday when he announced the payments for officers in Cape Coral, in response to their handling of Hurricane Ian.

“We understand the vital, vital role that law enforcement plays in a situation like this [hurricane response], of course, because if you look at the people that were helping rescue folks, you had police officers, sheriff’s deputies, you had state agencies, the Coast Guard,” DeSantis said Friday in announcing the bonuses.

“But you also just have daily life — even apart from a spectacular disaster like we’ve just suffered — you want to have safe streets. You want to have safe communities. That used to be something in this country that we universally expected and had in most places,” DeSantis added.