The following article highlighting the effectiveness of the Community Safety Team initiative was published in Thursday's edition of The Naples Daily News' Editorial section. The goal of community safety teams — led by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office while tapping the resources and skills of the Collier County Code Enforcement Department along with neighborhood and civic organizations — was multitasking, monitoring foreclosed and other vacated properties for blight and the crime that can come with it.
Actually, that was in April 2008 before the teams were even formed.
Now, a year later, look what has happened. These community safety teams are up and running and even flourishing. They are engaged in the exact mission as planned and announced by Kevin Rambosk even before he became sheriff.
Excellent follow-through.
The philosophy is sound: Neighborhood pride tends to go hand in hand with the way homes and yards look, and vice versa.
Still, the community safety teams transcend wishing and planning. They involve a lot of hard work. All of those team members and their many hands make lighter work of mowing yards, pulling weeds and hefting old furniture and machinery to trash containers brought in for specific assignments.
Supplementing the community safety teams’ efforts would seem ideal for community service ordered by local judges.
If you would like more information about starting a community safety team in your area, call: North Naples, 793-9298; Golden Gate, 530-9834; East Naples, 252-9443; Estates, 304-3520; Everglades, 253-5031; Immokalee, 530-9966.
Someday soon all this extra work might not be necessary when more people are again able to take care of their own properties.
