VACANT HOMES FILL DEPUTIES' SCHEDULES

Captain Tells Chamber About Area Crime Rates

Vacant houses and houses filled with growing marijuana plants keep
deputies busy, the captain of the Lee County Sheriff's Office
district in Lehigh Acres told the chamber of commerce Tuesday.

The crime rate would be a lot lower without the vacant houses, Capt.
Ed Tamayo told about 80 people at the chamber's monthly luncheon
while talking about residential burglaries.

Tamayo spoke after he and 13 other members of the district received a
standing ovation and accepted the chamber award as member of the month.

They protect us and our families every day, said chamber member Aldo
Ibarra, who referred to the July 18 murder of Fort Myers police
officer Andrew Widman as an example of the danger law enforcement
officers face on a daily basis.

No records are kept of how many vacant homes are in Lehigh Acres.
Vacant homes may be in foreclosure, unrented or unoccupied for other reasons.

Lee County's code enforcement division has identified 400 cases of
abandoned homes under construction. Construction sites are considered
abandoned if they haven't had an inspection in six months.

Deputies also have been busy with grow houses in Lehigh. The district
closed nine houses in June.

"Lately, it's become an almost daily event," Tamayo said.

The News Star began tracking grow house raids in Lehigh Acres on Oct.
1, 2007. Law enforcement officers have shut down at least 52
operations through July, made more than 80 arrests and confiscated
nearly 3,200 plants.

Tamayo talked about how the sheriff's office tracks crime and
experienced criminals by computer.

They've determined the lower Leonard Boulevard area, with a large
number of duplexes, is the community's hotbed of burglaries and other crimes.

Identifying high crime areas by computer enables the district to
focus patrols, surveillance and other crime fighting tools on those
areas, Tamayo said.

Deputies also track a top 10 list of veteran criminals who keep
turning up during investigations, Tamayo said.

"The more arrests they have against them the more likely they are
going to do prison time," Tamayo said.

"It's a great network," Panther Community Bank President Karen
Makowski said of the sheriff's computer statistics program.

The district meets monthly to share the data and trends with security
people in the community, Makowski said.