Collier sheriff talks updates on body cameras, COVID protocols and department priorities
Jake Allen
Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk recently sat down with the Naples Daily News and answered questions about the implementation of body cameras as well as his department's priorities and challenges in the coming year.
Rambosk entered his fourth term as sheriff earlier this month after running unopposed in the November election. He was first elected sheriff in 2008 and previously spent around 30 years as a law enforcement officer and government official in Collier County.
In 2008, Rambosk won 74.3% of the vote and garnered 27,715 votes — and has gained traction with the electorate in each election since.
The sheriff discussed his department's response to COVID-19 and challenges with traffic safety among other issues. Here is what he said:
Body cameras
Body cameras will be implemented by the sheriff’s office this year. The goal is to complete the sheriff’s office policy for the use of body cameras by March.
Then, the new body cameras will be issued to deputies in batches to ensure proper functioning and downloading of the video. As more deputies are trained, the sheriff’s office will issue more cameras in batches.
“We have had in-car cameras for a long time,” Rambosk said. “We have always thought in-car cameras are important and believed body cameras were as well for officer safety, for transparency and for evidential value.”
The sheriff’s office began upgrading its in-car cameras two years ago. Video from the in-car cameras and body cameras will be stored together in a cloud-based system, Rambosk said.
WatchGuard by Motorola Solutions is the company the sheriff’s office is contracting with for the new body cameras.
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Most likely, deputies on the traffic unit will be the first to be trained on how to use and then issued the body cameras, Rambosk said.
The body camera project will cost the sheriff’s office $2.8 million over the first 5 years. Included in this cost is the storage and staffing to support the program. The in-car cameras cost the department $2.5 million, with an annual reoccurring storage costs of $160,000.
The goal is to equip all certified deputies working in the patrol, safety and traffic enforcement and K-9 units with body cameras. The total roll out of the body cameras is planned for 300 to 325 certified members of the sheriff's office.
“We are committed to doing it,” Rambosk said. “We are making a significant investment in our community. We are excited about moving forward with technology and getting that in.”
Immokalee shooting
Nicholas Morales-Bessannia, 37, was shot and killed by a deputy around 1:15 a.m. Sept. 17 outside a home in the Farm Workers Village neighborhood.
A criminal investigation and an administrative investigation into the shooting were opened by the sheriff's office. Rambosk said he did not have any updates on the investigations.
"Not since the last update we gave," Rambosk said. "Everything is turned over to the state attorney's office. They are in the process of doing their investigation review."
The encounter between Morales-Bessannia and three deputies called to the scene lasted 13 seconds before one of the deputies feared for his life and the lives of the other deputies, according to the sheriff’s office.
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During the last few seconds of the encounter, Morales-Bessannia was running toward deputies with a raised weapon that was later determined to be sharp landscaping shears, according to the most recent information released by the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff's office turned over the shooting investigative file to the state attorney’s office on Oct. 1.
“It's important they (the state attorney's office) make their determination and then I want everything to be public and as quickly as we are able to do it,” Rambosk said.
Challenges facing the department
"You can't say enough about the last six to nine months as being the first element of challenge for us,” Rambosk said in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I look at it in short and longer-term objectives.”
The sheriff's office will continue to assist the health department when needed with testing and vaccinations as the pandemic continues, Rambosk said.
His department is also preparing for complications that may arise as pandemic restrictions are eased, and life begins to look more normal, Rambosk said.
Overdoses are on the rise nationally as well as in Collier County. Online alcohol sales have also increased by a significant amount locally during the pandemic, the sheriff said.
“That's not good and we know what some of the things are that have been driving that,” Rambosk said. “You have the pandemic but also everything that comes with that, including the financial stressors and family stressors."
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People also have dealt with isolation during the pandemic, he said. While the sheriff’s office has not seen a significant increase or decrease in mental health crisis-type calls, he thinks some of those issues have been hidden.
“We are getting prepared for all of that to come public,” Rambosk said. “What we believe is that people don't want to come out to a facility. They don't want to call us to be taken to a facility for mental health care right now. It's just like hospitals. People aren't going because they don't want to get infected.”
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A big element of transitioning to life after the pandemic will be getting people who are struggling with mental health issues the resources they need, Rambosk said.
Crime and traffic safety
Although the data is not yet official, it looks like number of incidents of crime in the county will be 10% lower for 2020, compared to the year before, Rambosk said.
In addition, the unofficial data shows the crime rate dropped about 13.5% in Collier County in 2020 and will continue to be at its lowest level since the data was first recorded in 1971, Rambosk said.
“We are continuing a great trend, even with the challenges of the past year,” Rambosk said. “I think you are going to see the state crime rate down as well.”
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Traffic safety continues to challenge the department, but the sheriff’s office has ramped up several safety and enforcement programs as seasonal residents return to the area, Rambosk said.
“We are putting a lot of effort into traffic safety and we are asking the public to relax on the roads, pay attention and know where you are going so you are not posing a traffic hazard to somebody else,” Rambosk said.
In 2020, 43 people were killed in car crashes in Collier County and a total of 4,420 car crashes occurred, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Dealing with COVID-19
Deputies have had to change how they interact with the public in the community and with inmates in the county jails due to the pandemic, Rambosk said.
"Overall, we are all learning how to do things differently over the last six to nine months and I'm quite sure there are going to be a lot of things we will say made sense and continue on with,” he said.
The department's health safety practices, such as housing new inmates away from the general population upon arrival at the jail, will continue until COVID-19 has been controlled by vaccines, he said.
The sheriff’s office will also continue to connect with the public virtually, but he is looking forward to in-person community events returning, Rambosk said.
“We looked at the ability to do more notice to appears for violations that we come in contact with,” Rambosk said. “I believe that's actually been working very, very well. If there is an opportunity to utilize that process further, I think that would be one we are going to continue to look at.”
Challenges facing law enforcement
Rambosk has served in law enforcement for around 40 years and has seen many changes in Collier County and the industry as a whole.
Connecting with the community should be at the top every law enforcement department's priority list, Rambosk said.
“We have made plans, goals and objectives to address what I think a lot of the issues are nationally,” Rambosk said. “That is, how to partner with your community. It's with business, residents and schools to build a strong position to keep people safe.”
The goal for law enforcement departments should be to be tough on crime and strong on service to the community, Rambosk said.
“You've got to have that balance of both. The service portion that is all your partnerships with your community,” Rambosk said. "I know everybody is not there yet. We have accomplished as a community significantly more in providing a safe, healthy community than most.”
Service to others before self is the overriding philosophy that law enforcement should have nowadays, he said.
“That is something that I haven't seen my entire career here,” Rambosk said. “It has not been that way for the entire 40 years I've been here, but the last 10 to 15 this community has come together through nonprofits, government, business and residents working together."