Golden Gate residents offered several ideas to help keep Collier County safe when they met with Sheriff Kevin J. Rambosk on Monday evening.
One suggestion was to establish a small CCSO office or bring a mobile command post to neighborhoods where crime is an issue. Improved street lighting was also mentioned a a means of deterring crime.
Audience members supported Sheriff Rambosk's push for a law that would prohibit texting while driving and also suggested a law that would take the measure one step further byrequiring hands-free only telephone use while driving and a law that would increase the amount of time juvenile offenders could be held in a detention facility beyond the current 21 days. Audience members also suggested stronger laws to punish drug abuse as a means of driving down drug-related crime and a strengthening of the state's trespassing laws.
CCSO will use the ideas and input from the meetings to create its Community Safety Plan for the coming year. The current Community Safety Plan was shaped through a similar series of meetings in 2009. That plan set community outreach, crime prevention, youth programming, traffic and boating safety and communication as the agency's primary areas of focus.
The community meetings will continue Tuesday with a 6 p.m. gathering at Corkscrew Middle School, 1165 County Road 858 in Golden Gate Estates.
