This guide will explain how the different departments of law enforcement within Florida and how to perform a Florida police records search that can uncover all types of Florida public records like arrests, criminal records, warrants, and more. The FDLE employees 2000 people and has an annual budget of 300,000,000.00. It operations within Florida and has its headquarters in Tallahassee, Florida.
The FDLE is one of only a few state law agencies within the U.S that has earned the triple accreditation. They are accredited by the following three:
- American Society of Crime Lab Directors
- Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
- Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation
How to find Police records using third-party methods
Anyone can run a public record search to find police records online using a public record search service. This method is extremely quick to search as only a first and last name is needed to start. The system will then search thousands of records from federal, state, and county resources. For most search services there is unlimited searching so you can run as many searches as you like for a certain period of time. Because of this Finding warrants, and other types of records are quick and efficient when using this method to perform a Florida police records search online.
BeenVerified background check service searches through billions of records and dozens of databases.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement to perform a Florida Police Records Search
Finding police records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website. The FDLE Division of Criminal Justice Information Services or CJIS is the centralized repository for criminal history info for the entire state of Florida. Florida legislature implemented a record check fee for criminal records. This fee to request public records will be $24.00 at the time of this writing.
Criminal History Check
To request criminal history information by mail. You can do this by completing the request form and sending that to:
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Criminal History Services
PO Box 1489
Tallahassee, FL 32302
Criminal History Information Request
Please include with your request the address where you want the results sent. For FDLE to process your request we need the subject’s name, along with any aliases, date of birth, race, and gender. While a social security number is not required, it is recommended to include this piece of information as it will help with the accuracy of the search. The processing time for the criminal history record check is approximately five business days excluding postal delivery time. If you need to have your record check certified, or if you require a Spanish copy, please indicate these by utilizing the checkboxes on the form.
Note: Checks or money orders must be made payable in United States dollars and must be drawn from banks within the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom. All other checks or money orders will not be accepted
Sheriff websites in Florida to find police records
Do not forget to search for Sheriff websites in Florida to find police records within the state. Sheriff websites are great resources to check to see if your county offers an online search for public record data. Keep in mind that not all Sheriff websites have the ability to search for records, however a lot do so its worth checking.
Simply search in Google for your county plus Sheriff website like this. “Broward County Sheriff Website” This should give you Sheriff Station website for that county.
Crime Volume in Florida
The total crime index below is from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website from January – June 2018 and shows crime reported by law enforcement agencies.
The total crime index in 2017 was 306,840 and in 2018 it was 282,276 that is a -8.0 percent decrease in overall crime reported. There was a total violent crime rate in 2017 of 42,940 and 40,023 in 2018. Again we have a decrease of -6.8 percent. Property crime was also a decrease from 263,900 in 2017 to 242,253 in 2018 a -8.2 percent drop.