• Problem - Low officer retention is wasting tax-payers' money
• Change - Reduce high employee turnover

In December 2004, the LCSO hired eight people out of an applicant pool of about 200 to 300 people [FN] in order to train them to become law enforcement officers. Today, only four out of those eight people are still working at the Lee County Sheriff's Office (LCSO). The officer turn-over rate at the LCSO is clearly too high, and the tax-payers of Lee County are footing the bill. Here, the question a reasonable person would have to ask is this: Why? Could it be that the current administration forces out qualified individuals and only continues to employ those who are a part of the Sheriff's good-old-boys club? For example: What is the reason why the LCSO employs a law enforcement officer who was convicted of battery on a woman? Another example: What was the reason a deputy Sheriff who was an asset to the Sheriff's office because he had an ability to connect with his local community is no longer a deputy Sheriff? Is the good-old boys-club mentality here at work? - Let's investigate. I think the tax-paying public has a right to know. Solution: Reduce financial waste by retaining those officers who are an asset to the community. Hire on the basis of merit and not on the basis of favortism.

• Problem - Strategically misplaced law enforcement officers
• Change - We need to take another look at the distribution of law enforcement officers in Lee County

There have been complaints about the current administration's law enforcement policies in Lee County. According to the complaints, too many law enforcement officers are concentrated in some areas in Lee County and too few are present where they are needed in other areas. Let's take a closer look at how the LCSO distributes its officers, and let's have a greater number of law enforecement officers patrol the more strategically important locations. We need to re-distribute the law enforcement officers so that policing makes sense.

• Problem - Not enough police vehicles visibility
• Change - Implement a take-home car policy that makes sense

One of the purposes of law enforcement is to do what can possibly be done in order to actually prevent the crime from occuring in the first place. Why then would a law enforcement agency cut the number of take-home vehicles? I personally prefer a police cruiser in my neighbor's drive-way. Allowing law enforcement officers to take their police cruisers home not only reduces crime in the neighborhood where the cruiser serves as a visible deterrent to a would-be home-invader but also reduces vehicle maintenance costs because such officers tend to take better care of their assigned vehicles. This is a smart law enforcement policy that makes sense. This is pro-active policing. We need more law enforcement visibility! Take-home vehicles make sense.

• Problem - An administration that lacks good judgment
• Change - We need to employ law enforcement officers that are not a liability risk to the tax payers
• Change - We need an administration that understands and that follows the Constitutional provisions that mandate that all people are to be free of governmental intrusion

The current administration employs at least one law enforcement officer who was convicted of battery on a woman. The question a reasonable person would have to ask is this: Why would a law enforcement officer whose job it is to keep "law and order" be a allowed to patrol the streets in the community under the guise of a badge when the officer has demonstrated a criminally agressive tendency? Why would a law enforcement agency employ this officer? In fact, no law enforcement agency that I know of in the State of Florida would even consider an applicant for a sworn position who was convicted of battery. Solution: We need an accountable law enforcement agency who abides by the very rules it intends to enforce [click here].

• Problem - The current administration falsifies employee performance
• Change - We need a law enforcement agency that values people

When in December of 2004 the LCSO hired eight people in order to train them to become deputy Sheriff's, the current administration gave the same eight individuals--all eight deputy Sheriff's recruits--a poor job evaluation even though these eight deputy Sheriff trainees deserved a higher performance score. The question a reasonable person would have to ask is this: Why? Why does the current administration falsify the performance of its employees? The other question is this: What other information is the current administration falsifying that the people of Lee County do not know about? What else is the current administration concealing from the public? The solution: We need change. We need a Sheriff who values people. We need an administration that values the work of its people. We need a law enforcement organization that does not violate the law [click here].

• Problem - Lee County's inmate housing costs are too high
• Change - We need to reduce inmate housing costs and cut tax-payers' waste

We need to be tough on crime. People who commit crimes must expect retribution for the crimes they commit. But sending first-time offenders who commit smaller crimes to jail by the droves where they learn from hardcore offenders how to commit larger crimes doesn't make good sense. The key is balance: retribution, to be sure, and, when warranted, some rehabilitation, too.

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[FN] Disclaimer: This number is an estimate
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