4/7/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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a-+ Sheriff Wheeler stated that of the two positions, one position will be an administrator -coordinator who will also disseminate information. The other position will be considered a "tracker" of the SHOs to make certain the juvenile is accountable for his/her actions. At the conclusion of the Sheriff s presentation, Commissioner Ginn was not sure this program would be good for our county; it may be meant for a larger jurisdiction. It seemed to be a tremendous amount of money and the cost after 5 years would be almost a half a million dollars. Sheriff Wheeler countered with the important need of more officers for his department. He quoted statistics for crime in the Orlando area. The percentages are nearly the same percentages as here in our county. The figures are relative to size. A lot of our problems are caused by juvenile offenders. He believed that by focusing on the problem, we may be able to prevent future occurrences. Commissioner Adams inquired about the effectiveness of this program in counties that had already instituted it, and Sheriff Wheeler did not have that information readily available. She felt that value to the program is in bringing the information together for all agencies to have input and access capabilities. She thought that other programs which have been instituted by the Sheriff's Department have been effective. Vice Chairman Macht, who had attended the meeting on March 12', recalled that St. Lucie County had reported around a 46% drop in juvenile arrrests after SHOCAP was in place for a while. He pointed out that one of the complaints of law officers in dealing with juvenile crime is that juveniles are under a lot of anonymity protection. As in everything preventative, it is difficult to measure and hard to prove, but there is always a down stream benefit that outweighs the cost. He believed that we are going to have to fund more deputies, so we might as well get a grant while we can. Commissioner Eggert was supportive of the program because of the tremendous cost of crime to our community. She believed that if something can be done about turning these SHOs around, it would far outweigh the cost. She thought that the administrative person could do a lot for any deputy out on the street who wants information. MOTION WAS MADE by Commissioner Eggert, SECONDED BY Commissioner Macht, to approve the request of Sheriff Wheeler. April 7,1998 36