When the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce met for its March meeting, there was a striking appearance of law enforcement, probably the largest that has ever attend a Chamber luncheon. They were there to be honored and Capt. Ed Tamayo and Chamber members. Tamayo announced he has been transferred from Lehigh as its commander, to take over Internal Affairs with plans to retire in a few years.

But before he left Lehigh, one of his last official acts was to recognize what he called “an outstanding group of officers” who have brought the crime down in Lehigh Acres over the past two months.

“And it is a drastic decrease,” he told a large gathering at the Majestic Gold Club.

“The Selective Enforcement Team (SET) has been instrumental in helping reduce crime in Lehigh Acres. All of the arrests made, approximately 120 in February alone, have helped produce a 15 percent drop in Zone 5 and a 34 percent drop in Zone 4 of crimes such as burglary, auto theft and robbery,” Tamayo said.

“Nevertheless, not only burglaries and thefts are down, but violent crimes as well,” he said.

He went on to say that recently SET has made some significant arrests involving prowlers, sex offenders, burglars and overall “thugs” that have what he called significant criminal histories.

“When they apprehend these thugs running in the back yards and canals wearing gloves and carrying knives, we all know they are not visiting the neighbors to ask for a cup of sugar,” he said.

He went on to say that an arrest was made recently by SET for felony dumping, illegal narcotics and nine suspensions. He said that out of frustration, the suspect arrested said that every other car he saw in Lehigh was a cop. Tamayo said there was an expletive in front of the word “cop.” The Chamber group laughed.

Tamayo said the bad guys know the officers are working hard to let the criminals know about their presence and not the next victim.

He said the SET team will stay motivated and will keep fighting crime, making the difference.

“The intent is to take back the streets for the citizens of Lehigh Acres and Bravo District in Lehigh is enjoying an unprecedented decline in the number of crimes committed.

“The SET Team has created a domino effect for detectives and zone deputies to keep up the pressure upon the criminal element in our community and for this reason, I wish to recognize the members of the Bravo district SET Team for Lehigh Acres Deputies of the Month,” Tamayo said.

The team includes: Sgt. Mike Rakestraw and John Greene, along with Deputies Josh Quaintance, Frank Pooser, Nora Galloway, Mike Dziuba, Ken Sherman, Nick Vutsinas, George Camacho and David Brown. They came forward when called and were presented with Chamber certifications recognizing them as Deputies of the Month.

Detective Chris Lalor had this to say of the SET team:

“The SET team arrested a juvenile who is a prolific know burglar and brought him to CID for questioning. CID interviewed him and he confessed to committing several residential burglaries in Lehigh.

“The SET team has done an outstanding job with providing CID with intelligence, and working as a team to put these burglars in jail where they belong. I feel the SET team supervisors and their team deserve a pat on the back,” Lalor said.