LEHIGH ACRES, FLa. -- Drugs, guns and money have been seized in two drug trafficking busts this month in Lehigh Acres. "There is too much crime. I mean helicopters are overhead almost every night and you call up and ask what's going on and they say lock your doors," said Richard Farsi.
Many Lehigh Acres residents had similar complaints during a recent meeting with the Lee County Sheriffs Office and County Commissioners. "We need to have some kind of consistency with law enforcement here whether its in crime, traffic, whatever," said Mr. Phil, who attended the meeting.
One person they wanted to bring these problems up with, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott couldn't attend the meeting, reportedly due to illness. "I'm just really sad Sheriff Scott wasn't here," said Phil. "I tried sending him a couple emails. Never got any response," added Farsi.
By email Sheriff Scott had the following to say regarding crime in Lehigh Acres:
"Crime is consistently occurring in every jurisdiction across the country, and in terms of progress locally, you follow it every day in reviewing/reporting the many arrest reports, special operations, and investigations that take place in Lehigh and across Lee County (SW FL). Just this week we removed dozens of dirt bags from the streets…(9) in Lehigh alone...during operation "Holiday Havoc." As you also know, our task force with FMPD has produced numerous arrests that have had direct or indirect ties to Lehigh.
I'm sure it will not come as a surprise to you that virtually every one of these criminals arrested has been arrested numerous times before. Prior records of 10, 20, and even 30 or more arrests are not uncommon.
We will continue to suppress crime through pro-active efforts and when crime occurs, we will respond to investigate and arrest (again) those responsible. As always, we encourage the community to report any suspicious behavior."
In the meeting, people did get a response from Lee county Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass. I asked him about the continuing crime committed in Lehigh. "That's something we addressed last night. The board of County Commissioners increased the Sheriffs budget. We increased the personnel in the Lehigh Acres district but we'll continue to do that effort in Lehigh Acres."
The increased budget will provide 35 new officers which Pedergrass says will enlarge the law enforcement presence in Lehigh.
Pendergrass says fighting crime is only part of the solution to making Lehigh a safer place to live. "How to rezone some of the areas in Lehigh Acres with property owners t to become more commercialized to create more jobs so people don't have to commute across the county for jobs they can live in Lehigh Acres."
