Annual Report, Year 2006 - Monroe County Sheriff's Office

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Annual Report - 2006
After two years of frequent hurricanes, 2006 was, in a way, a restful year. We were
all able to spend some time recovering from those two difficult years. The Sheriff’s
Office spent a good part of the year undergoing construction at it’s headquarters building.
Leaking windows and a leaking facade on the building had to be repaired and for
several months, our headquarters employees had to move in to trailers in the parking
lot while drywall was repaired, carpets replaced and windows repaired and sealed.
We were also able to replace a good portion of the 60 vehicles we lost in Hurricane
Wilma, but our fleet still remains below what it was pre-storm.
During 2006, we acquired a new medical transport helicopter to replace our aging
Huey. The 40 year old Huey began costing more to maintain than it was worth and,
with the help of the County Commission, a Sikorsky helicopter configured for medical
transport was purchased to replace it. The office also applied for and received an FAA
Part 135 license which grants us the right to bill for the services of the helicopter. This should go a long way to
help pay for the program.
In 2006, our Intelligence Unit took on the task of Homeland Security liaison to the Region Seven Domestic
Security Task Force. The State of Florida is broken up into regions for the purpose of being able to more quickly
respond to all types of emergencies and our region, which includes Palm Beach County, Broward County, Miami
Dade County and Monroe County, meets regularly to discuss various issues relating to emergency response.
The State regional task forces are also charged with handling the expenditure of federal Homeland Security
funding. Our agency takes an active part in our region’s task force and, because of our efforts, we have been
successful in bringing some of that funding back home to our county.
In 2006, Homeland Security funds helped purchase new Bomb and SWAT trucks for the agency. Our SWAT
team will no longer have to worry about their vehicle breaking down en route to a call, and the Bomb truck easily
accommodates all the equipment necessary to respond to explosive device calls, including the robot which allows
for remote examination of devices.
The other important aspect to our participation on the task force is our ability to call on outside agencies for
help in an emergency. Having the resources of Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County
available to us should we need them will be invaluable if and when a large event such as a catastrophic storm or
a terrorist related attack ever happens here.
Crime went up slightly in 2006, but reports available from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show
that, despite the small uptick, we have seen a steady and dramatic decrease in crime over the years. To give
perspective, the total number of major index crimes per 100,000 people for 1989 was13,062 and in 2005, it was
4,604. Like this year, there have been several other years when our county has seen small increases but the
overall picture is certainly impressive and we expect the trend downward to continue in coming years.
There are many reasons for this long term decline in crime, not least of which is our hard working men
and women who are out on the streets every day making sure they are as safe as possible. The support of
the citizens of the County is also of paramount importance. Without the eyes and ears of the community, and
everyone’s commitment to maintaining the safety and security of our county, we would not be able to do our job
nearly as well.
Let’s continue our partnership now and in future years. Together we can make sure our families, our children
and our streets are safe.
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