FORT WALTON BEACH — Crime prevention was the main topic of discussion Thursday evening among Sylvania Heights residents, state Rep. Matt Gaetz and Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley.
About 50 people gathered at the W.E. Combs School to share their concerns about local and state issues.
One resident called the neighborhood a “disaster zone.” Another referred to the local drug problem “outrageous.”
People from other parts of Okaloosa County come to their neighborhood off Lovejoy Road to sell drugs or prostitute, many residents said.
Although gatherings are not unlawful, Gaetz said a law recently took effect to make it a crime to recruit young people as gang members.
Some residents asked Ashley to check the identification of those walking around the neighborhood and send away those who are not residents.
“I’m at a point where I don’t know what the community wants me to do, Ashley said. “I’ll arrest them all, but then I’m a profiler.”
Calls for service and to report crimes have continued to increase while the Sheriff's Office’s budget continues to shrink, Ashley said.
“We’re actually doing less with less,” Ashley said.
It’s a problem of priorities, he said.
He advised the residents to call the Sheriff's Office when they see a crime being committed.
The same criminals are arrested time and time again, Ashley said.
“Our judicial system’s a revolving door,” he said.
Many residents said there is little to deter former inmates from continuing a life of crime. Finding a job with a prison record is nearly impossible, they said.
They suggested creating tax breaks for businesses that hire former inmates as well as programs to teach them interview and job skills.
Gaetz said he would consider those suggestions and try to pass a law to require state prisons to help ex inmates get an identification card.
“That’s a humble start,” he said.