So, I know I messed up. Um, but I don't want to make excuses. >> If you got a badge and you took a note, then there's no excuse. >> So, turns out Florida's got a new kind of highway patrol, the kind that needs one. A new investigation found hundreds of Florida law enforcement officers busted for drunk driving, and somehow many of them still have their badges. According to WFTV's 9 investigates, more than 379 Florida officers have been caught driving under the influence over the past 5 years. We're talking city cops, deputies, even state troopers. The same folks riding DUI tickets for everyone else. One Daytona Beach officer drifted onto a curb, crashed, and told responding deputies, "I'm a cop, too." Yeah, we could tell. Some of these cases never even made it to arrest reports. Internal reviews, suspensions, maybe a training refresher, and back on the road they go. >> Are you a deputy? >> Yes. >> Why are you driving so crazy, man? >> Not investigates [music] Florida officers. >> Two, three. >> Caught breaking laws they're sworn to protect. >> So, I know I messed up. Tonight, we reveal hundreds of officers arrested for driving drunk and a system that often lets them keep their badge. Channel 9 anchor and investigative reporter Darlene Jones has been digging into this for 7 months. And she joins us now with case after case of officers getting what appears to be special treatment. >> And Darlene, the hundreds of cases you investigated may not even be all of them. >> And no, Martha. And here's just a portion of some of those cases. We found officers got pulled over for drunk driving, but only faced department discipline and not an arrest. Another was allowed to call a friend for a ride home. And some officers fled down to reckless driving tickets with no DUI arrest on their record. >> Now, if you or I got caught swerving after a few beers, there'd be cuffs, fines, and jail. But with a badge, apparently it's more of a learning experience. Florida's descertification board can pull licenses, but most of these officers just get a slap, a suspension, or a transfer. Internal investigations, they end quietly, and the public never sees the paperwork. Guess accountability depends on who's holding the handcuffs. >> In the middle of the night, a Rockish police officer turns into oncoming lanes trying to avoid a traffic stop. An Orlando police officer picking up his daughter from school stumbles through a field sobriety test in broad daylight. >> Two, three. >> Nine. Investigates obtained this body camera video of a traffic stop prompted by erratic driving. Watch as the driver flashes his Lake County Sheriff's Office ID. >> Are you a deputy? >> Yes, sir. >> Why are you driving so crazy, man? Cases like these prompted nine investigates to wonder just how often those sworn to keep the public safe are instead putting other drivers at risk. We filed dozens of records requests and uncovered nearly 400 Florida officers charged with DUI statewide over the last 5 years. About 50 worked for law enforcement agencies here in Central Florida. >> If you got a badge and you took an oath, then there's no excuse. >> Bill Deont knows the cost. He lost his daughter to a drunk driver. He said that it shouldn't matter who's in uniform. Driving drunk kills families. Period. Yet somehow in Florida, justice still salutes the badge before the victim. >> Bill Deontoth lost his daughter Kerianne to a drunk driver 10 years ago on the Bvard Orange County line. >> The numbness doesn't go away. There's always a trigger. Seeing videos like this is one of them. >> Why'd you park there? >> A Daytona Beach police officer had already crashed his truck into a pole when officers caught up to him just last month. >> I'm a cop, too. Like, >> but nine investigates found that cop wouldn't even be included in the 400 DUIs we uncovered because his criminal case is still pending along with the department's internal case. So, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Training and Standards Commission likely won't consider suspending or revoking his certification until years from now. >> And here's where it gets even uglier. When a cop in Florida gets caught driving drunk, the arrest is supposed to trigger a report to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, the agency that decides if they keep their certification. But according to investigators, that notification doesn't always happen. Some departments just forget. Others bury it under internal discipline, which means the people responsible for enforcing the law can quietly dodge state oversight, never losing their license, never showing up on the record. Translation: Internal affairs protects the agency, the agency protects the badge, and the commission never even gets the memo. >> They are not automatically notified. Carlos Espinosao runs internal affairs at the Cassumi Police Department, which he proudly points out, does not currently have any officers on this list, but he walks us through how these cases are handled. >> It is up to the individual agencies and their internal affairs section or the department heads to make sure those notifications are sent forth. >> So, it's possible some may be slipping through the cracks because you're relying on a human to do the right thing. >> Yes. and nine investigates found plenty of other ways officers could avoid being added to this list. >> This deputy was arrested for driving under the influence and ultimately that was reduced [snorts] to a charge of reckless driving. >> This FDLA commission can still consider whether to take the officer's badge, but only if the department notifies the commission that it was really a DUI. >> So, I know I messed up um but I don't want to make the excuses. This North Florida deputy served two days in jail, 50 hours of community service, 6 months probation, mandatory counseling, and got his job back. >> Since that time, he's been an excellent employee, no disciplines, and actually been promoted. >> You heard that right. The officer's agency actually spoke to the state training commission, not to confess a mistake, but to brag. brag about getting him his job back and promoting him. In a system that's supposed to descertify drunk drivers with badges, they celebrated one like he'd won employee of the month. That's not accountability. That's a loyalty program. It's the kind of professional courtesy that keeps broken systems running and broken trust alive. But night investigates found some officers suspected of drunk driving don't even get charged. >> Do you have anybody that can come pick you up? >> Yep. Yep. Somebody coming? >> Yep. >> Lake County fired this officer anyway for failure to maintain what it considers good moral character. Bill Deont believes that's the way it should be. >> You're human. You have bad days. You make some bad decision, but you don't get to make those decisions as a law enforcement. That's just my opinion. So, you may have noticed some of the officers in those body camera videos, their faces were blurred. We want to point out Channel 9 did not make that decision. The arresting agency providing those videos to us with the officer's identities protected. Other departments chose not to do that even though they could have done so. Greg, >> and here's the part that really says it all. In some of these cases, the agencies actually redacted the officer's identity from the footage, blurred the face, muted the name, scrubbed the truth. When it's a citizen, they'll blast your mugsh shot before you make bail. But when it's one of their own, suddenly privacy matters. They call it protecting the officer. I call it protecting the image because the only thing more dangerous than a drunk cop is a system drunk on its own power. Until agencies stop hiding names, stop burying evidence, and start holding their own accountable, we don't have law enforcement. We have damage control.