In hosting last week’s Orange County Community Crime Forum at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, Commissioner Linda Stewart was well aware that east-side residents are worried that crime is encroaching into their neighborhoods.
But while violent crime is actually down in East Orlando, Stewart perfectly summed up what was on audience members’ minds when in her introductory remarks, she said: “There are different levels of criminal activity, and it’s not really bad except when it happens to you or your neighbor.”
That point was underscored throughout the evening with homeowners relating their recent personal brushes with unlawfulness to a panel of crime-fighting experts, including a number of officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. One of the OCSO panelists even had a story to tell herself.
Sector 2 Captain Tina Gordon, who commands 136 deputies patrolling 475 square miles in east Orange County, recounted that just the day before, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, her own east-side subdivision was the scene of a serious crime.
However, she then offered a few facts to bolster her claim that, contrary to popular perception, crime on the eastside of town is down. Compared to 2007, year-to-date statistics show that violent crime has fallen 2 percent in Sector 2.
That translates to 116 fewer felony cases occurring over the same period. In particular, crime is dropping in two neighborhoods where she continues to receive complaints. In Waterford Park crime is down 25 percent from last year, while Cypress Isles has seen a 43 percent reduction including no reported auto burglaries or auto thefts. Still, all is not rosy. While robberies are down significantly across the county, their numbers are up on the eastside, Gordon said.
“There is crime; it is happening,” she said. “But the crime rate fluctuates quite a bit.” In addition, four residential burglaries have taken place this year in Cypress Isles, and residents voiced their dissatisfaction at the crime forum. OCSO Sgt. Neil Mitchell, who is in charge of property crimes in Sector 2, said youngsters are largely responsible for local thefts, burglaries and vandalism.
“A lot of kids are taking these things,” he said. In response to a question from the crowd, Mitchell noted that the Orange County crime-clearance rate for property crimes is 12 percent, mirroring the national average. OCSO Deputy Richard Negron explained that the preferred point of entry for burglars is prying open residents’ sliding glass doors. “The trend right now is they’re coming through your sliders,” he said, recommending a charley bar for added protection.
To deter auto burglaries, he suggests hiding your GPS (global positioning system), remote control to the garage and extra set of house keys. He added that while home burglaries are more random in nature, home invasions generally have a specific cause. “Statistically, home invasions are narcotics- related,” he said. Negron is with the OCSO crime-prevention program and heads up Neighborhood Watch in Sector 2, where currently there are 83 such homeowner groups established.
More are needed. “Basically, we try to get all the neighbors involved. The Sheriff’s Office can’t do it all ourselves. You're our eyes and ears,” he told the crowd. Another crime-prevention program also is proving its worth.
COPS (Citizens on Patrol) allows community members to take control of a marked police car, using it for visibility and to relay valuable crime-in-progress information to OCSO. Cypress Isles recently established a COPS program. “People see the car in the community. It’s a great deterrent,” said OCSO Sgt. Joe Moore. “This has been very effective.”
Juvenile crime rampant
Besides the recent rash of burglaries,
young people are also blamed for other
unlawful activities. Victor Payne, commander
of the OCSO gang unit, said
there are now 80 documented gangs and
more than 3,000 gang members in
Orange County.
Many people believe that graffiti is the
most visible sign of gang activity in the
area, but Payne said gangs today are
more advanced in their communication
skills, choosing computers to relay their
messages.
The graffiti found on the walls of buildings is more likely to be the artistic expression of a “tagger” than a symbol of turf war. “There is a lot of fear that graffiti popping up all over is gang-related. This is not true,” he said. Juveniles also were highlighted in a video that stressed the dangers of underage drinking.
The film cited several alarming facts, such as 1,700 college students die every year from alcohol, every day 7,000 kids under the age of 16 take their first alcoholic drink, women are drinking more than ever, men and women are drinking at a younger age, and that someone under 18 years old who drinks is four times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than if they waited until the legal age of 21.
With so many University of Central Florida students living off campus, the partying of underage drinkers is also a community problem in East Orlando. Tom Hall, UCF director of the Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Program, said his office has instituted a new initiative this year that focuses on helping students become more accountable for their actions.
“We have a challenge,” he said. “We’re going to try to teach them how to be better neighbors, how to be more responsible,” said Hall, who noted his nickname around campus is “Major Buzzkill.” Hall explained that enforcement is being handled through the student discipline system. The blight of foreclosed and vacant homes are causing other neighborhood problems, as well.
In Waterford Lakes and other communities, there are numerous reports of people breaking into empty homes and squatting or just partying. To mitigate the problem, officials recommend that homeowners associations cut the grass in front of vacant homes to make it less obvious that no one is living there.
Then, if a break-in does occur, call police because a crime has been committed. Code enforcement will then board up the home. But while the perception of a rising tide of crime on the eastside is difficult to overcome, strides have been made. When Captain Gordon was new on the force back in 1988, there were a total of 550 OCSO deputies.
Today, that number stands at 1,600, and climbing. Gordon said Sector 2 will be adding 26 new officers in the coming months, allowing for a boost in law-enforcement presence and patrolling. In addition, a new police substation is slated to open in February 2010 at the corner of Rouse and Lake Underhill roads.
Still, crime remains an undeniable fact of life in East Orlando. “We have a denser population, and with that comes a criminal element,” Gordon said.
