There’s never a lot of down time at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department because keeping the community safe is more than a full time job.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay joined Good Morning Keys this morning on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM to talk about what’s been going on in the county.
This morning, Sheriff Ramsay and his officers were inspecting the Key West International Airport personnel. Everything will be checked and reviewed to make sure all is in order.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “This is important once a year to get together with our troops, send a message, have a chance for them to meet top command staff. Have a chance for them to ask any questions they may have, give directions to them and make sure they’re looking sharp and presenting well.”
The immigrant humanitarian issue has seen some action from the governor’s office in a declaration recently.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “I want to say everybody I spoke to was very receptive from the governor’s office. Senator Rick Scott, great friend, does a great job. Congressman Gimenez. Representative Mooney. All were responsive, all clearly saw a problem. It really helps when we’re all on the same sheet of music. We are going to see some action. We’re already starting to see more people power.”
There are additional troopers as well as members from Florida Fish and Wildlife, and even Air National Guard with Black Hawk helicopters to do patrols.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “I’m appreciative of the efforts from our state, our federal partners who are taking it seriously. We’re in a very difficult situation. This problem is not going to go away any time soon I believe. We’ve got to see how the new, latest policy changes from the federal government regarding immigration is going to affect our geographic area. It could make it better, it could make it worse. I don’t know. For every action, there is a reaction. We have to see what the fallout is from some of the latest changes from Washington, DC, when it comes to immigration.”
At the moment, the Keys are seeing an unusual influx of immigrants.
When the Key Largo School saw a threat to students from an 11-year-old New Jersey boy, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department jumped on it.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “I’m taking a stance early on. I’m going to take every threat when it comes to school violence serious and I don’t care how old the person is. People ask me here the kid’s only 11 years old. Isn’t that too young? I said, look, what’s the age? Is it 11? Is it 12? Is it 13, 14, 15? We’re going to draw the line.”
Just last week, a 6 year old shot a school teacher in Virginia.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “It goes to show you, age can’t be a real factor in these type of threats. A person is making electronic threats to kill, sending images of guns, images of the target school. He’s talking in a chat with a bunch of people about killing people, African American kids first. I have to take every threat serious and I do. This person was in New Jersey. They say, well, he’s in New Jersey. I said look, I don’t care where he’s at. If he makes a threat to kill and I decide to do nothing because the person’s an 11 year old in New Jersey, what happens the following week that 11 year old comes to school with a weapon and shoots and kills a bunch of kids in New Jersey? They look back and say you knew there was a viable threat, you had the ability to arrest him and stop him and get him the help he needed, but you didn’t. Now people are dead in New Jersey. No. It’s important for us to make sure we get court intervention from those states, for the parents to be held accountable and make sure there’s some oversight so this child, who is clearly troubled. If you’re posting this type of stuff, you need some type of intervention. We don’t wait until something bad happens. We’re here to prevent and deter crime from occurring and I’m not going to stand by and let somebody make a threat to our kids’ school and not be held accountable. That’s just the stance I have. Some people think that it’s tough when I deal with young kids, but it doesn’t change the fact I’m just not going to risk the safety of our kids.”
A woman was arrested for fraud recently. She forged $4,400 in checks. She found outgoing checks and doctored them up and electronically depositing them in her own account.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “Fraud stuff is always a problem in this nation, unfortunately, but we have to be vigilant with crimes of opportunity. So be extra careful with checks that you are going to be mailing out. Either hand deliver or put them in the post boxes. I’m always concerned about when people put stuff inside their mailboxes in front of their house with a red flag. If we have them stolen, a lot of times that’s where they’re taken from.”
The woman has been arrested.
Sheriff Ramsay reiterated his gratitude for help with the immigration issue.
He said, “I appreciate the partnerships. You always hear me talking about communication, cooperation, partnership and teamwork to get stuff done. That’s exactly what happened here and that’s exactly why we’ve got resources.”