Sheriff cites low-crime Siesta stats
As if earlier documentation had not been enough, Sheriff Tom Knight last week should have eased everyone’s mind about the crime – or, I should say, the significant lack thereof – on Siesta Key.
Speaking to about 30 members of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce during a networking luncheon at Captain Curt’s Crab and Oyster Bar, Knight pointed out that the key has 8,998 full-time residents (according to Sarasota County GIS Services). That figure represents 2.7 percent of the county’s total population, but the key had barely 3 percent of the reported burglaries in all of the county last year.
The percentage of total violent crimes on the key dropped 30.77 percent from 2008 to 2009; the total number of nonviolent crimes (burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) was up 3.75 percent year-over-year; and the number of Part II offenses (negligent manslaughter, kidnapping, arson, simple assault, bribery, embezzlement and fraud) declined 35.58 percent from 2008 to 2009.
Out of those Part II offenses, the key had reports for only two types: simple assault (87 in 2008 versus 57 in 2009) and fraud (17 in 2008 and 10 in 2009).
The chart with those figures, Knight said, "speaks for itself."
Siesta Key occupies only 6.3 square miles of the county, Knight said, but it has five regular deputies, plus Sgt. Scott Osborne. Still other deputies are assigned to patrol the island.
Even more deputies get Siesta duty during Spring Break, Knight added. For the season each year, the county anticipates more than 2 million visitors on the island. "That’s why we maintain an office" in the village, Knight said.
"We have crime here in Sarasota County," Knight said. "I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say ... everything’s perfect."
Still, he pointed out, Siesta Key has relatively little criminal activity.
Knight did mention the home invasion last summer in Whispering Sands condominiums. A suspect charged by the Manatee County Sheriff’s office with murder in another home invasion case "was out here on Siesta Key at one point in time," Knight said, but "he’s locked up in jail right now."
Among other statistics provided in materials Knight brought with him:
• In 2008, patrol deputies on Siesta Key responded to 390 alarms; in 2009, 395. In 2009, the sheriff’s office received 541 reports of suspicious activity.
• In 2008, Siesta accounted for 55 residential and non-residential burglaries, compared to 2,143 in the rest of Sarasota County.
• In 2009, according to statistics reported to the FBI, the county had 2,066 burglaries; 55 of those occurred on Siesta Key, representing 2.6 percent of the total.
Regarding stolen vehicles in 2009: The entire key had 17 reports – seven in the village. Of the latter, two were found not stolen, two were recovered (not stolen on Siesta), one had the keys in it when it was reported missing and one was involved in an accident in which the driver fled and later filed a stolen vehicle report. The seventh incident involved a suspect who was an employee of the owner of the vehicle.
Of the 10 vehicles reported stolen outside the village last year, one of those was a golf cart and three had keys in them; one was reported stolen after the owner left the keys in a beach blanket.
"If you see something that doesn’t look right," Knight said, "call us ... That’s why we keep the deputies on the key."
He added, "I can’t make everybody happy, but I do want everyone to feel secure."
Lt. Jim Quinn, who is assigned to the key, and Wendy Rose, the public information officer for the sheriff’s office, accompanied Knight to the meeting.
PASS PROBLEM
During the March 4 Siesta Key Association meeting, board member Peter van Roekens alerted the attendees to an increasingly serious situation in Big Pass.
The "channel has shoaled significantly," he said. "[The markers] should be avoided at all costs."
In some places, he said, the depth is as shallow as 2 feet.
Charter boat operations and the folks at Marina Jack are very upset about the situation, van Roekens said, "and I think it’s a significant issue for both the city and the county."
During the discussion, he noted that Big Pass never has been dredged. The channel has tended to shift back and forth over the years.
Van Roekens indicated the beach renoursihment on Lido last year most likely is the culprit for the situation in the pass. Sand dumped on Lido generally migrates south toward Siesta.
County officials are working on an inlet management study, van Roekens said. They have told him they hope to present it to the Sarasota County commissioners within the next month or so. "It’s a long time coming."
Commissioner Nora Patterson, who was attending the meeting, added, "I’ve never seen the main channel shoal as much as it has."
As for the inlet management study: "We’ve been waiting for a very long time," she said, adding that she suspected the delay was because no one yet has come up with a concrete recommendation on how to prevent the shoaling.
"We’re looking for a definitive recommendation," Patterson added.
‘NO PARKING’
Patterson also told the SKA board and audience on March 4 that the county is going to put up "No Parking" signs on one side of Turtle Beach Road, to prevent future clogs that could hinder emergency vehicles from responding in a timely fashion to a call from one of the neighboring Blind Pass Road condominiums.
Jim Graves, who brought the road problems to the SKA’s attention again this year, told Patterson he still expected it would be three or four years before the signs appeared.
"You know, this is government," Patterson said. "It doesn’t work fast."
Patterson did point out that the design for improvements at Turtle Beach Park calls for the elimination of parking altogether along Turtle Beach Road; more spaces will be created elsewhere in the park to compensate for that loss.
BIG HEARTS
Congratulations go out to all the folks who participated in the fundraiser for Haiti held by Clayton’s Siesta Grille on Feb. 28. The event raised $14,000 for Agape medical flights and for the Red Cross.
March 24th 2010 - 4:14AM