Florida’s DeSantis puts billboards in Illinois to recruit officers

(NewsNation) — Florida is putting billboards in Illinois’ “Greater Chicago area” to recruit law enforcement officers from the state, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday.

Among the perks being touted by the governor’s office is a program where police officers from out of state can receive a $5,000 signing bonus if they relocate to Florida.

DeSantis, in a news release, criticized an Illinois law allowing noncitizens who are legally authorized to work in the United States to apply to be a police officer.

In his statement, DeSantis also took aim at another new law passed this year by Illinois lawmakers: the one eliminating its cash bail system. Critics of cash bail policies say the system is unfair to people of color, while proponents say it ensures released defendants show up for court proceedings.

After Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to completely end cash bail, Florida passed HB 1627, which requires the state Supreme Court to set up a statewide bail bond schedule.

“Florida strongly supports law enforcement and has consistently enacted commonsense criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe,” DeSantis, who is running for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination, said in a statement knocking Illinois’ policies.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed HB3751, the law allowing noncitizens to apply to be in law enforcement, in July, and it goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024. Its sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, told WRSP that residents had requested a more diverse police force and that immigrants have shown interest in joining law enforcement, which spurred the legislation.

Republicans, such as DeSantis, were quick to bash the new legislation on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Pritzker shot back, saying the Florida Republican “isn’t smart enough to be president.”

At a news conference reported on by NBC Chicago, he said the “right wing” was twisting the facts.

“I am tired of the right-wing twisting things,” Pritzker said. “They put it on Facebook, they tell lies. There are people out there that think we’re just allowing anybody to become a police officer. That’s just not accurate.”

So far, 2,700 law enforcement officers have relocated to Florida — but only 37 of these have come from Illinois, according to the governor’s office. More than 230, meanwhile, have made their way to Florida from California, New York and Pennsylvania.