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Published on Sunday, July 7, 2002
in the East Manatee Herald
East Manatee wants more protection, but the crime rate doesn't warrant it
EAST MANATEE - While many East Manatee residents feel safe from crime, some worry they are not adequately protected by police.
Despite complaints there is not enough police coverage, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office says there are not enough crimes to warrant more deputies and not enough money to hire them, even if the need was there.
Some communities in East Manatee, particularly Lakewood Ranch and Parrish, have found community-based solutions to deter crime and allay nervousness.
Home on the range
The sheriff's office divides the county into 19 zones for deputies to cover. The two easternmost zones, roughly the area east of Verna Bethany Road, are covered by "range deputies," who cover hundreds of miles of farmland, pastures and pockets of residential development.
Sgt. William Riley, a 22-year veteran and supervisor of the sheriff's agriculture crimes unit since 1997, oversees the four range deputies, whose offices are their trucks.
Riley tries to keep two deputies on duty at all times to deal with agricultural, farming and ranching issues along with any other problems reported by residents.
"We deal with burglaries, we deal with livestock complaints, thefts of farm equipment, trespassing, poaching - every type of crime that law enforcement handles," Riley said.
The number of crimes range deputies have to deal with hasn't changed much in the five years he's been on the job, despite the increase in population, he said.
"I'd say that it's been consistent," he said. "We have times when there's a rash of (crimes) and there's times where we don't have any."
That may change, though, with development pushing farther east.
"There's been a steady increase because of the building out east," he said. "When people are moving out here, that's more opportunity for the criminals."
Residents of Duette, in the northeastern-most zone in the county, are familiar with the range deputies. Most know the deputies by name and have their pager numbers memorized.
But some residents think the few range deputies are assigned areas too large to cover effectively.
Jim Leonard said he knows what Duette needs in terms of policing - more of it. As fire chief of the Duette Volunteer Fire/Rescue, he often has to interact with and wait for sheriff's deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
"Probably the biggest thing is that we need to get quicker response," he said. "When we do need somebody, you need them now."
The lag in response time is especially noticeable when the fire department responds to serious accidents on State Road 62.
The average response time for sheriff's deputies from initial call to arrival for 2001 was 11 minutes, 59 seconds and 12 minutes, 26 seconds from January through March of 2002, Sheriff's Maj. W. Brad Steube said. Though response times can vary depending on the priority of the call and where the deputy is responding from, Steube said the department does not break down response time statistics geographically.
Leonard said he has waited anywhere from a half hour to more than an hour for FHP troopers or deputies at times.
On a personal level, Leonard said there needs to be more range deputies. He was the victim of a crime prevalent in Duette - theft. Someone stole an expensive gas-powered post-hole digger he had borrowed from a neighbor.
"I think if we had more of a presence in an area, it might slow that down," he said.
If they only had the money
Steube said deputies are assigned to different zones based on the number of calls for service they receive. East Manatee is broken into eight zones, based on geography and the number of calls.
According to the sheriff's office, East Manatee averaged 4,953 calls per zone for 2001, though the Duette and Myakka City zones received only 655 and 685 calls, respectively.
While the numbers steadily increase the farther west one goes, few East Manatee zones approach the number of calls received in zones west of U.S. 301. The average number of calls received in the west was 10,547 for 2001, with some zones receiving more than 15,000 calls.
Aside from zoned deputies, the sheriff's office has up to three traffic units throughout the county and community policing units that target high-crime areas.
"Would I love to have a deputy on each street corner? You bet," Steube said. "We've got to get our money up, and we need more deputies."
For now, residents shouldn't expect to see a dramatic increase in deputies. Randy Warren, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said each new deputy costs $53,054 each year to outfit. This includes the starting salary of $24,000 per year, pension, benefits, liability insurance, patrol car (including gas and maintenance), equipment and uniform. These costs would also go up, Warren said, if the sheriff receives a requested $10,000 increase in starting salary for deputies.
The current zones will stand until the sheriff's office can increase its budget, Steube said. Lt. Mike Rushing, public information officer for Florida Highway Patrol's Troop F, is in a similar predicament. He agrees police presence and response times need to be improved, but doesn't have the budget or staffing to keep up with the county's growth.
"It's just exploding out there. We're not able to adjust with it," Rushing said.
He said FHP usually has four to six troopers working different zones throughout the county. Though troopers can be seen in East Manatee, Rushing said, FHP does not have enough officers to adequately cover the county.
To add to their troubles, FHP has difficulty keeping officers with more lucrative positions in nearby Sarasota County. He said officers frequently go to Sarasota County because of higher salaries.
"Florida Highway Patrol ranks No. 7 in starting salary in the country. But the next county down is starting their police officers at $10,000 more than we are. We've become a training ground," Rushing said.
An alternative solution
Some residents in Lakewood Ranch and Parrish are fighting crime on their own terms - with or without the sheriff's office or FHP.
Lakewood Ranch has taken the most aggressive stance in deterring crime by hiring its own "police."
Though most residents feel safe in Lakewood Ranch, an increase in complaints warranted new security measures, said Jo Anne Dain, supervisor of the Summerfield/Riverwalk Community Development District.
Residents wanted extra deputies assigned to the community or a substation in Lakewood Ranch but were told there wasn't enough crime to justify more officers.
The Summerfield/Riverwalk district decided to hire security to patrol 16 hours a week. Since hiring security, reports of vandalism, trespassing and after-hour parties have almost disappeared, she said.
Security will have to keep up with the growth of Lakewood Ranch, Dain said, regardless of whether the sheriff's office does.
"I think that we need to keep up our own patrols of parks and for the next year. We're expanding the budget, and we're putting another $10,000 in 2003," she said.
Meanwhile, Dain is happy to report that residents are seeing sheriff's deputies patrolling roads near Lakewood Ranch more often. That's not dissuading her from wanting more deputies, though.
"Our area's going to really grow, so we're going to keep after the substation idea," Dain said. "If they plan for the growth, they're going to have to add additional people (deputies) in the budget."
The Gardens, a manufactured home community in Parrish, has taken a different strategy to deter crime - an active Neighborhood Watch. Every night, two of the Gardens' 100 volunteers patrol in two-hour shifts, making sure thieves and vandals steer clear of the 600 homes.
Mike Korsch, the Neighborhood Watch coordinator, said the community decided to fight back in 1995 after a rash of break-ins.
When watchers notice a problem, police respond quickly and effectively, he said.
But deputies are rarely needed, he said. Though the Gardens has had its share of petty crimes - vandalism, thefts, graffiti - he said Parrish is a safe community to live in, warranting little police presence.
The fact that Sheriff Charlie Wells and several deputies live in Parrish also makes residents feel safer at night, Korsch said.
"I guess we're privileged to live in a district with very little crime," Korsch said. "Little minor incidents can't compete with rapes or murders or armed robberies."