Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
(NP) SB 28
By
Senator Rouson
16-00102-26 202628__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Reginald Jackson by the City
3 of Lakeland; providing an appropriation to compensate
4 Mr. Jackson for injuries and damages sustained as a
5 result of the negligence of Mike Cochran, a police
6 officer with the Lakeland Police Department; providing
7 a limitation on the payment of compensation and
8 attorney fees; providing an effective date.
9
10 WHEREAS, on October 18, 2001, Officer Mike Cochran of the
11 Lakeland Police Department stopped Reginald Jackson for driving
12 with an invalid license tag after the officer incorrectly typed
13 the tag number into his computer and the tag number was,
14 therefore, identified as invalid, and
15 WHEREAS, Officer Cochran then issued a citation to Mr.
16 Jackson for transporting his girlfriend’s 18-month-old brother
17 without a child safety seat and forbade Mr. Jackson to move the
18 vehicle without properly restraining the child, and
19 WHEREAS, Mr. Jackson asked if Officer Cochran could escort
20 his vehicle to his home a short distance away, but the officer
21 refused and directed Mr. Jackson to use an immediately adjacent
22 pay phone to call someone to bring a car seat for the child, and
23 WHEREAS, after the stop, Officer Cochran drove away and
24 positioned himself in an alley parallel to the site of the
25 initial stop and observed Mr. Jackson drive to a pay phone on
26 the next block, which Mr. Jackson did after determining that the
27 immediately adjacent pay phone was not operational, and
28 WHEREAS, while Mr. Jackson attempted to use the second pay
29 phone, Officer Cochran approached him and told him that he was
30 under arrest for disobeying a law enforcement officer, and
31 WHEREAS, Mr. Jackson was startled by the officer and ran
32 back to his vehicle, got inside, backed up a short distance, and
33 then drove forward without pressing the gas pedal, and
34 WHEREAS, when Officer Cochran told Mr. Jackson to stop the
35 vehicle or he would shoot, Mr. Jackson then pumped his brakes
36 twice, and the officer fired a .45 caliber bullet through the
37 windshield which struck Mr. Jackson in the neck and exited
38 through his back, and
39 WHEREAS, Mr. Jackson was unarmed and seated next to an 18
40 month-old child, and
41 WHEREAS, after the shooting, the police transported the
42 child to the police station in a marked vehicle without a child
43 safety seat, and
44 WHEREAS, as a result of his injury, Mr. Jackson will suffer
45 pain and be disabled for the rest of his life, and
46 WHEREAS, Officer Cochran, as an employee of the Lakeland
47 Police Department acting within the scope of employment, owed a
48 duty to Mr. Jackson to conduct himself in a reasonable manner
49 and exercise reasonable care, but he breached that duty by
50 discharging his firearm through Mr. Jackson’s windshield in a
51 careless and negligent manner, and
52 WHEREAS, a jury in the Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial
53 Circuit in and for Polk County awarded Mr. Jackson $412,500 in
54 damages, and
55 WHEREAS, due to the limits of s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,
56 at the time of the incident, Mr. Jackson has collected only
57 $100,000 of his judgment against the City of Lakeland, and the
58 remainder may be recovered only through passage of a claim bill
59 by the Legislature, NOW, THEREFORE,
60
61 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
62
63 Section 1.
The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
64
found and declared to be true.
65 Section 2.
The
City of Lakeland is authorized and directed
66
to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise encumbered
67
and to draw a warrant in the sum of $312,500 payable to Reginald
68
Jackson as compensation
for injuries and damages sustained.
69 Section 3.
The amount paid by the City of Lakeland pursuant
70
to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under
71
this act are
intended to provide the sole compensation for all
72
present and future claims arising out of the factual situation
73
resulting in the shooting of Reginald Jackson as described in
74
this act. The total amount paid for attorney fees relating to
75
this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under
76
this act.
77 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.