Committing battery on law enforcement officers does not include just police officers. It also includes correctional officers, probation officers, anyone in those positions in a part-time position and anyone in those positions as auxiliary positions. This includes employees or agents of the Department of Corrections who supervise or otherwise provide service to inmates, federal law enforcement officers, and law enforcement staff of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, law enforcement staff of the Department of Law Enforcement, or law enforcement staff of the Department of Environmental Protection.

Other persons categorized under F.S. §784.07 include firefighters, emergency medical care providers (ambulance drivers, EMTs, paramedics, registered nurses and physicians, medical directors or any of the above employed under contract or in some other way allowed to perform duties directly related to caring for and treating persons at a hospital's emergency room. (F.S. 784.07(c)).

Florida Statute §784.07 - Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer

Also included are public transit employees and agents - bus drivers, train operators, revenue collections people, equipment maintenance personnel, security personnel, or transit agency field supervisors (F.S. §784.07(d)).

Even if you do not strike a law enforcement officer but simply threaten, you may be charged with the lesser offense of "assault" If you are charged and convicted with assault on any one of the persons covered in F.S. §784.07, this may qualify as a first-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year in jail. You may also be assessed fines of up to $1,000.00.

If you are charged and convicted with battery on any one of the persons covered in F.S. §784.07, this may be qualified as a felony from the first degree to the third degree. First degree felonies are punishable with up to 30 years' imprisonment. You may also receive a fine of up to $10,000.00.

If you are charged and convicted with aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, you may be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment depending on the circumstances surrounding the offense. Mandatory sentences mean that you will not be eligible for suspension or deferment of the sentence, nor will you be eligible for gain-time or early release.