Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching a billboard campaign in Chicago, offering “unappreciated” police officers a $5,000 signing bonus to come to Florida to do what leftists in Illinois appear keen to otherwise prevent them from doing properly at home.
Chicago is a city terrorized by criminals. There have been 1,495 criminal sexual assaults, 7,039 robberies, 20,651 motor vehicle thefts, and 435 murders reported in the city so far this year. Two of those slain in the city were police officers, Aréanah M. Preston and Andres M. Vasquez Lasso.
The very people capable of restoring law and order in the no-cash-bail state have seemingly been discouraged from doing so at every turn.
Chicago was, after all, one of the Democrat-run cities that embraced anti-police rhetoric and reduced police funding amidst the 2020 BLM riots.
Its new leftist mayor, Brandon Johnson, a former teachers’ union organizer and advocate for “redirecting money away from policing and militarizing police forces,” does not appear to be making things better, having called for social workers and EMTs to respond to various 911 calls.
The chilling effect has been unmistakable.
In the face of dwindling support from the city, increased scrutiny, and the fear of reprisals, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that arrests dropped to their lowest in decades last year.
With the understanding both that Florida could always use more men and women in blue and that Democratic policies in Illinois allow “dangerous criminals back into communities,” DeSantis announced Thursday that Florida would be launching billboards in the greater Chicago area inviting law enforcement officers to the Sunshine State.
Those “unappreciated” officers who are interested and who relocate will receive a $5,000 signing bonus through the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program.
According to the Florida Department of Commerce website, over 292 law enforcement officers have already taken the Sunshine State up on the offer to relocate from Illinois, California, New York, and Pennsylvania since 2022.
“Florida strongly supports law enforcement and has consistently enacted commonsense criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe,” said DeSantis. “We stand behind our citizen officers, and we give them the tools to succeed professionally and personally. Other states deputize non-citizens, enact policies that favor criminals over victims, and work to overtly or covertly defund the police, but not in Florida. I look forward to welcoming the Illinois men and women in blue to the law-and-order state.”
In the announcement, the governor’s office contrasted Illinois’ apparent priority to allow illegal aliens to become police officers and eliminate cash bail with the benefits on offer to law enforcement officers in Florida, including student loan forgiveness programs, home loan programs, and retirement benefits.
WQRF-TV reported that the billboards erected in the Chicago area read, “Citizenship Matters. Law Enforcement Matters. Make the Smart Move to Florida.”
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