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Published on Wednesday, December 24, 2003
in the The News-Press
For almost 15 years, Mariner High School in north Cape Coral has benefited from the extra security that comes from having a police officer live on campus.
A Florida Highway patrolman or a Cape Coral police officer has lived in a mobile home on the campus and patrols the school at night in return for the rent-free place to live.
Collier County schools have had the program in place for 11 years. The Collier County School District contracts with deputies or highway patrolmen to live at 20 of its schools.
Now, Lee County school officials hope to expand the program to more of its schools.
“In future schools, we’re designing a spot for deputies,” said William Moore, director of support services for Lee schools.
Five new schools under construction already have a designated site for a law enforcement officer’s home.
But the Lee County School Board must approve an expansion of the program before Moore can invite anyone to take up residence.
“I certainly would be in favor of exploring it,” said school board member Jane Kuckel.
Kuckel said she wants to study some of the schools that have the program in place to determine its strengths and weaknesses.
Cathy Vache, assistant principal at Mariner High School, said the presence of a police officer and the police vehicle parked on campus is a deterrent to those who would want to vandalize the campus.
“We haven’t had any incidents this year,” Vache said.
A Cape Coral police officer replaced a county officer and has been living on campus since April. Security cameras were installed around that time.
In Collier County, deputies or highway patrolmen live on 20 elementary, middle and high school campuses.
Law enforcement agencies let officers know about the program, but the contract is between the school district and the individual officer.
Officers purchase the mobile home and have it delivered to the school. The school district installs it and hooks it up to water, sewer and electric service. Those basic utilities are provided free.
“It’s a minimal cost for the trade-off and in the long run it pays for itself,” said Eli Mobley, director of risk management and insurance for Collier schools. “Our goal is to have a deputy at every school.”
New Collier County schools are being built with a poured concrete foundation meant for an officer’s mobile home. The foundation and utility hookups usually cost $25,000 to $30,000 to install at existing schools.
Moore said mobile homes at Lee schools would sit on the ground just as portable classrooms do. Installation and utility hookups should cost $20,000 to $25,000.
Collier deputies and highway patrol officers were placed at schools with security problems or those in remote locations.
Mobley said it has reduced criminal activity at those schools. There is no statistical data to prove it, but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that the program works.
Collier County Sgt. Dennis Perry has lived in a double-wide mobile home on an elementary school campus for six years. The program was perfect for Perry, who was going through a divorce and needed an affordable place to live.
The sheriff’s office would not name the school because it did not want to divulge Perry’s address.
In return for free utilities, Perry patrols the campus at night and on the weekends.
He’s the first one called if the school’s alarm system is tripped.
During a three-day weekend, the fire suppression system in the kitchen discharged. Perry discovered the problem and called the principal who got the kitchen cleaned up and in working order for school on Monday.
“They would have walked in and found it on Monday morning and had to close the school down,” Perry said.
Most of the problems he encounters are minor ones, such as teenagers trespassing.
“If they see a patrol car, they don’t know where I am. I might be in my living room, but no one knows that,” Perry said.
Aside from the occasional person who thinks his mobile home is a sheriff’s substation or wants to use the bathroom, Perry said he is not bothered.
The program also helps the sheriff’s office.
Schools are usually one of the areas targeted for extra patrols, and if a deputy lives there, on-duty deputies don’t have to patrol as often, Perry said.