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Police juggle as crime creeps up
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer NEW TAMPA -- As New Tampa gets bigger, so does the challenge of fighting crime. While the area remains one of Hillsborough County's safest places to live and work, crime is creeping up. Identify theft -- fraud and counterfeiting in particular -- have risen especially sharply. The overall crime rate in New Tampa grew by 7 percent from 2000 to 2001, according to statistics from the Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. In 2000, authorities logged 1,169 crimes. In 2001, they logged 1,253. The population is growing so fast that Tampa Police officials cannot give an accurate ratio of officers-per-citizen in the city's portion of New Tampa. At last count, 26 Tampa police officers patrol the area that includes Tampa Palms, Hunter's Green, Arbor Greene, Richmond Place, Heritage Isles, Flatwoods Wilderness Park and some areas near the University of South Florida. At any one time between three and eight of these officers are working. The department has added two patrol officers for New Tampa in the past year. In the past decade, New Tampa's census-counted population rose from 7,145 people to more than 26,600, and most of this growth happened in the city. In the unincorporated area, which includes roughly 2,000 homes and 1,200 apartments in Pebble Creek and Cross Creek, one Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy is on patrol during any one shift. That deputy also is responsible for eight grids nearby. A community resources development officer for New Tampa works out of the sheriff's District One office off Fletcher Avenue. Under ideal circumstances, there should be one police officer for every 1,000 people. Like all over the nation, New Tampa is feeling the effects of the recession and its law enforcement officers face the additional demands of antiterrorist work. "Right now the goal is to keep our heads above water," said City Council member Shawn Harrison, who lives in Tampa Palms. "We're in a time where everyone has to tighten their belts." For example, one officer is assigned to protect the Morris Bridge water treatment facility on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. "Homeland defense responsibilities have stretched our time demand, not just our financial demand," said police spokeswoman Katie Hughes. Property CrimesBurglaries, robberies, drug arrests, and simple assaults remained unchanged from 2000 to 2001. Auto thefts, by contrast, more than doubled, from 42 in 1999 to 92 in 2001. Fraud cases more than doubled for 51 to 110. Counterfeiting cases hit 19 in 2001, up from 9 in 2000. And, as police officials point out, that type of crime is not necessarily prevented by an increase in patrols. Most identity theft culprits seek to emulate wealthy shoppers. They wear designer clothers and purchase expensive items. Thiefs also like to work in megastores: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes. They often use fake identification cards to obtain tens of thousands of dollars in credit. Not all of the fraud is for thousands of dollars, however. In March, a man rolled a stack of laundry tokens and tried to pass them as $10 worth of quarters at the Dunkin' Donuts at 18003 Highwoods Preserve Parkway. Tampa police haven't arrested him yet. Community vigilence is more important, says Julia Junquera, a Tampa police officer who took over the New Tampa Business Watch this year. "Don't trust anyone," she said. "Don't accept-out-of-state checks, ask for ID with credit cards, train your personnel. If a sale seems to good to be true, it probably is." Officials, meanwhile, are looking ahead to a time when they can beef up coverage. City officials have discussed possible office space for one or two officers in the new municipal building to be built near Freedom High and Liberty Middle Schools. But John Barrios, manager of inspection services for Tampa, said the plans for the building are in an infant stage. "There's been no committment, nothing concrete at this time," he said. - John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com
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