Washington — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday he hopes to sign legislation that awards $5,000 bonuses to out-of-state law enforcement who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in violation of local vaccine mandates and move to Florida to work there instead.
DeSantis said in an interview with Fox News that the state is “actively working to recruit” officers from outside of Florida to fill needs in police and sheriff’s departments, and he welcomes law enforcement personnel who risk losing their jobs for defying city and state COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
“In the next legislative session, I’m going to hopefully sign legislation that gives a $5,000 bonus to any out of state law enforcement that relocates in Florida,” he told Fox News. “NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, if you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here: you fill important needs for us, and we’ll compensate you as a result.”
DeSantis, a Republican, said he believes many officers have already become infected with COVID-19, which is driving their decisions not to get vaccinated against the virus.
“Nobody should lose their job based off these injections,” he said. “It’s a choice you can make, but we want to make sure we’re protecting your jobs and your livelihood.”
Leaders of several large cities and states have imposed vaccine mandates on public workers, including first responders, leaving them with the choice to either get their shots or be terminated.
In Chicago, more than one-third of its nearly 13,000-member police force are defying the city’s mandate to report their vaccination status, and in Seattle, six police officers and 11 firefighters faced termination after its vaccine mandate went into effect October 18, while another 93 police and 66 firefighters were seeking exemptions to the requirement.
In Massachusetts, its 42,000 state workers were required to be fully vaccinated by October 17, and the state’s police union estimated at least 150 state police officers will resign over the mandate. New York City, too, is requiring first responders and municipal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be placed on unpaid leave, prompting a lawsuit from the New York City Police Benevolent Association.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found COVID-19 related deaths accounted for more law enforcement deaths last year than all other causes combined.
In a letter to officers, the head of the National Fraternal Order of Police urged officers to “seriously consider receiving the vaccine to protect themselves and others from becoming seriously ill,” but noted that the group believes individual officers should be free to decide whether to get vaccinated.
“As an organization that prides itself on protecting the freedoms afforded to us by the U.S Constitution, we are vehemently opposed to any suggestion of a vaccine mandate from any organization, employer or government agency,” Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, wrote in a letter to officers.
DeSantis first rolled out a proposal in September to bolster recruitment of new law enforcement officers to Florida, which includes a $5,000 signing bonus to officers joining the profession, as well as relocation support for officers moving to the state.
I never thought I would see the day when Florida would become more conservative than Texas. I hope all of the liberal strongholds in Florida are absolutely seething right now.
Anyone with common sense and 1/4 of a brain knows the liberal agenda is the coming of Satan . Why these morons follow dummycrats is and bad science is crazy . Here is the dummycrats health Guru … 
Wher the hell is the big tent and the bearded lady and the snake oil salesMAN ?
This is a smart move especially after the police and fire protests over mandatory vaccinations in NYC last week. I hope cops in all of these leftist major cities take DeSantis up on his offer. It’s a good deal and they won’t have to worry about their jobs or having a Governor who won’t back them up when they actually have to shoot criminals who are a threat to public safety.
The best that NYC can do is $500 for getting the vaccine and not leaving lol
God Bless Governor Ron DeSantis. Every single time he takes a stand on this COVID lunacy it’s always the right one. We need more courageous leaders like him in this country.
That’s a great idea Exit, the more you can concentrate the unvaxxed the better….
Yeah - we can enjoy our freedom. You can wander around with your mask on showing proof that the government jabbed you with some unknown substance so you can keep paying exorbitant taxes just for the government to take even more freedoms away from you.
You liberals have come a long way. I remember when you people hated the government. Now you want everyone to do as they are told by the government. What a bunch of rebels you turned out to be.
Yep it takes a lot of courage to be an anti trump vaccine stooge
It’s hilarious the lengths you Trumpers go to criticize the trump vaccines 
It sure does take courage to stand up and resist the government and its blatant overreach when it comes to unwanted medical procedures.
Please though - enjoy your vaccines, and boosters, and more boosters, and the ultimate destruction of your immune system. All so Pfizer can have your immune system on a subscription service.
I’m sure none of these politicians are getting any kickbacks from Big Pharma at all. Nope.
They are Trump’s vaccines, a product of his operation warp speed, he took the vaccine himself and has encouraged YOU to take it. I’ve had a lot of laughs watching you Trumpers trash talk his vaccines…. Continue on….
No one gives a shit about your warped speed talking point nonsense.
Fuck the vaccines. Fuck the mandates.
Here, Trump says he looks like the Lone Ranger in a mask. Says wearing masks are the patriotic thing to do….bwahahahahabwahahahaha
Was that you and your boyfriend in the pool?
Yep, Phuck trumps vaccines
New York saving tax payers dollars while it takes DeSantis ten times the amount to get what he wants done….
They are pushing the mandate so hard because this whole scam is about to come off the rails.
If vaccination rates don’t go up and suddenly COVID disappears when the flu comes back in the middle of winter the government will have no explanation.
He is giving an incentive to police officers to move to a state , where they have the ability to do their job without a threat of termination for doing their job correctly and with a Governor that supports them ,unlike New York and other Leftist states.
Every NYC poiice officer should move to Florida so the Liberals can develop the type of force they want.