Capt. Ed Tamayo

Capt. Ed Tamayo has returned to Lehigh as the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Substation commander. He was head the Bravo District for some time, having left six or seven months ago.

“A lot of the people, including the business people asked Sheriff Mike Scott if there came an opening, that they would like for me to return.

“And I am glad to return to run the Sherrif’s Office in Lehigh. After all, Lehigh is my home and it is the busiest district in the county,” Tamayo said.

He replaces Capt. Jim Leavens who has been reassigned to internal affairs.

“When the colonel asked me if I would like to go to Lehigh when the vacancy opened, I was glad to say yes. I love Lehigh and the 72 people under my command are great to work with. They work hard to clean up crime in Lehigh.”

“It’s a good fit for me to return and I am not planning to retire anytime soon,” Tamayo laughed.

Before Tamayo left, there was a noticeable decline in crime in Lehigh and with his return, he says for the past six weeks, the rage is going down. It fluctuates sometimes,” he said.

“We have problems with property crime and break-ins at empty homes,” he said. Tamayo also said that residents of Lehigh must lock their cars when they are not in them.

“We’ve got bad guys out there who will go from car to car to see if the doors are unlocked. And if you leave valuable things in sight, they will break in. Tell everyone to keep their doors locked all the time. What is surprising is that 90 percent of cars go unlocked,” he said.

Tamayo said he is available to speak to area groups about the Sherrif’s Office.