Safest Places to Live in Florida (schools, fence, law)

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by MartyGras

I think you are wrong about that. From what I understand the money can only be used for capital expenditures. Police cars are capital expenditures.

Gary

1% Local Option Sales Tax
The money is supposed to be used for "infrastructure and quality of life" improvement projects. I wouldn't consider new cruisers an improvement to "quality of life", but hey, who knows which pot our county accountants would charge it against in order to purchase them using this money.
Sorry for the thread hijack.

[MikeM8560]

Originally Posted by MikMal

The water of Charlotte Harbor (and canals) are patrolled by several entities including the P.G. P.D., Charlotte Co. Sheriff's Marine Patrol Unit, Fl. Fish & Wildlife, and Coast Guard sector Ft. Myers. There may be more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

in 4 years ive only seem once a fish a game patrol my canal in pc

[MikMal]

Originally Posted by MikeM8560

in 4 years ive only seem once a fish a game patrol my canal in pc

I only remember seeing the Sheriff's boat in my canal once (earlier this year) but I've had the P.G. marine patrol stop me twice this year while I was fishing out in the harbor.

[Harbor Hopper]

When we lived on West Spring Lake in PC, the sheriff and FWC boats would come through maybe 1x per month (that I saw). It may have been more than that in reality. But in 5 yrs here, I've never been stopped once on the water (and we're on the water a LOT)!

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by wpc691

Is there something beyond "safe", like maybe "occupied"? I've never seen so many cops in my life.

I'm not a boater, but I do know that people who aren't breaking the law don't need to worry about a police presence in their communities (on or off the water.) I shudder when I read about possible cuts in police and/or firefighters.

Of course I don't want to live in a police state and often rant & rave about the basic liberties that are being stomped upon by our government and big corporations. However, police officers are an essential part of any community.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I'm not a boater, but I do know that people who aren't breaking the law don't need to worry about a police presence in their communities (on or off the water.) I shudder when I read about possible cuts in police and/or firefighters.

Of course I don't want to live in a police state and often rant & rave about the basic liberties that are being stomped upon by our government and big corporations. However, police officers are an essential part of any community.

Agree in general, but at what point does worthwhile protection become just dozens of guys hanging around looking for something to do? If a cop every 500 feet is good, would a cop every 250 feet necessarily be better, or just expensive overkill? The Police Chief and the Sheriff will never tell you they have enough men, or enough guns, or enough jail space, or enough cars, or enough budget. They'll always tell you you're within an inch of being beaten and robbed, so keep those tax dollars flowing.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by wpc691

Agree in general, but at what point does worthwhile protection become just dozens of guys hanging around looking for something to do? If a cop every 500 feet is good, would a cop every 250 feet necessarily be better, or just expensive overkill?

Of course I wouldn't want to see cops standing on every corner, but that just isn't the case around here, at least where I've lived in Charlotte County. Like anyone else, I don't like to see cruisers hiding behind trees ready to attack an unsuspecting driver, but they seem to show some tolerance if you're only going a few miles over the limit and following the flow of traffic.

Originally Posted by wpc691

The Police Chief and the Sheriff will never tell you they have enough men, or enough guns, or enough jail space, or enough cars, or enough budget. They'll always tell you you're within an inch of being beaten and robbed, so keep those tax dollars flowing.

The only thing I've ever heard from any Sheriff in SWFL is to use common sense, i.e., lock your doors, report any suspicious activity, and so on. I doubt if anyone would utter the words, "you're within an inch of being beaten and robbed" since that would discourage tourists from visiting the area and hurt local businesses.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by justNancy

Of course I wouldn't want to see cops standing on every corner, but that just isn't the case around here, at least where I've lived in Charlotte County. Like anyone else, I don't like to see cruisers hiding behind trees ready to attack an unsuspecting driver, but they seem to show some tolerance if you're only going a few miles over the limit and following the flow of traffic.
The only thing I've ever heard from any Sheriff in SWFL is to use common sense, i.e., lock your doors, report any suspicious activity, and so on. I doubt if anyone would utter the words, "you're within an inch of being beaten and robbed" since that would discourage tourists from visiting the area and hurt local businesses.

I've noted that they're very tolerant too. I've seen people going too fast go through a speed trap, and if they're not going too, too fast, the cop just flashes his bubble lights. That's great, but the question is, why are we paying so many of them to sit there? I'll have to do some research on cops per capita to see if my perception that they're falling over each other here is supported by any data. It seems one of the biggest dangers in Punta Gorda is inadvertently falling asleep from the calm and quiet, and I just can't figure out what all these guys are protecting us from.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by wpc691

I just can't figure out what all these guys are protecting us from.

Watch the news and read the news paper......it's pretty clear what they are protecting us from.

I'm guessing for every crime they uncover there are hundreds more being committed.


When they are sitting on the side of the road they are not looking for me( the 55 year old driver in a newer car going a few miles per hour over the speed limit) they are looking for the odd car. The one going the speed limit or below in the car that is not maintained with 200 lbs of drugs in the car. They are also stopping the young people, not to harass but simply to make them aware that they shouldn't be doing something wrong because they could be stopped at any time. That is what policeing is.

Gary

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by MartyGras

Watch the news and read the news paper......it's pretty clear what they are protecting us from.

I'm guessing for every crime they uncover there are hundreds more being committed.


When they are sitting on the side of the road they are not looking for me( the 55 year old driver in a newer car going a few miles per hour over the speed limit) they are looking for the odd car. The one going the speed limit or below in the car that is not maintained with 200 lbs of drugs in the car. They are also stopping the young people, not to harass but simply to make them aware that they shouldn't be doing something wrong because they could be stopped at any time. That is what policeing is.

Gary

Yikes.