State training requirements
Florida Peace Officer Training Requirements
Who governs peace officer standards in Florida, the annual in-service requirement, the mandated topics for de-escalation and crisis response, and who decides what counts for in-service credit.
Verified as of July 10, 2026
Who governs
Peace officer standards and training in Florida are set by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC).
Annual in-service requirement
Florida requires 40 hours of continuing education every four years to maintain certification, due by June 30 of the fourth year following the certification anniversary. Within the four-year cycle, recurring mandatory retraining topics include use of force, officer health and wellness, human diversity and discriminatory profiling, domestic violence, juvenile sexual offender investigation, human trafficking (4 hours), and misuse of electronic databases. Continuing education under this requirement is not eligible for salary-incentive payments.
Mandated topics relevant to CodeBlu
Use of force
Use-of-force retraining recurs within the four-year cycle and includes scenario-based firearms, physiological response dynamics, less-lethal options, policy, and legal content.
Source: 11B-27.00212(13) F.A.C.
Domestic violence
Domestic violence is a recurring enumerated retraining topic within the four-year cycle.
Source: 11B-27.00212 F.A.C.
De-escalation and crisis intervention
No standalone statewide recurring de-escalation mandate was located in Chapter 943 or Chapter 11B; de-escalation content sits within use-of-force retraining and agency-level crisis intervention. There is no general statewide crisis-intervention mandate for all officers; only school safety and resource officers are mandated under s. 1006.12, and crisis intervention is agency-by-agency rather than statewide.
Source: FDLE CJSTC officer requirements
Who decides in-service credit
Hybrid
The employing agency administrator determines whether continuing education satisfies s. 943.135 and reports completion via form CJSTC-74 through the ATMS system. The Commission certifies training schools and instructors, sets specialized-program curricula, and specifies the mandatory retraining topics: topic content is centralized while completion verification is agency-side.
What this means for training like CodeBlu
Florida uses a mix of central approval and agency discretion for in-service credit. Where the decision rests with the agency, a department can decide whether training like CodeBlu counts toward its in-service hours; where a topic is centrally certified, the formal path runs through Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC). Either way, this is not a determination of eligibility: CodeBlu does not certify hours or grant credit, and agency policy, the state's process, and legal counsel govern.
Primary sources
- POST-equivalent siteCriminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (official site)
- POST-equivalent sites. 943.135 F.S. mandatory retraining
- Administrative code11B-27.00212 F.A.C. (mandatory retraining rule)
- POST-equivalent siteFDLE CJSTC officer requirements
Verified as of July 10, 2026. This page is reviewed on an annual cadence, and the date is bumped only on re-verification against the primary sources above.
Frequently asked questions
- Who sets peace officer training requirements in Florida?
- Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC) sets peace officer standards and training requirements in Florida.
- How many annual in-service training hours does Florida require?
- Florida requires 40 hours of continuing education every four years to maintain certification, due by June 30 of the fourth year following the certification anniversary. Within the four-year cycle, recurring mandatory retraining topics include use of force, officer health and wellness, human diversity and discriminatory profiling, domestic violence, juvenile sexual offender investigation, human trafficking (4 hours), and misuse of electronic databases. Continuing education under this requirement is not eligible for salary-incentive payments.
- Who decides what training counts for in-service credit in Florida?
- The employing agency administrator determines whether continuing education satisfies s. 943.135 and reports completion via form CJSTC-74 through the ATMS system. The Commission certifies training schools and instructors, sets specialized-program curricula, and specifies the mandatory retraining topics: topic content is centralized while completion verification is agency-side.