Sheriff`s Corner

Hello, welcome to the Sheriff's Corner. This week's Corner will talk about several items of interest that are going on right now.

First, for those of you who haven't heard, we have had several incidents of "Contractor Scams". In our cases, driveways were put in and then after only several weeks, victim's saw grass growing up through the blacktop. If you are approached by someone who says they have extra product after doing a job, and they'll give you a deal, beware. Through our investigations we learned that inferior material and in several cases, not enough material was used.

Obviously, there are good contractors. But remember don't pay in advance. Some contractors want partial payment for material. Make these payments as low as possible. Keep receipts and other documentation. If no work has happened 30 to 60 days from contract there is criminal action that can happen. There are conditions. You can give me a call for this information.

Next, I hope you've heard about our participation in Project Child Safe (PCS). This is a national project that has included local law enforcement in an effect "to make homes with firearms safer by raising awareness about responsible firearm ownership and storage." Free gunlocks will be available at the Levy County Sheriff's Office, Inglis Police Department, Cedar Key Police Department, Chiefland Police Department and Williston Police Department.

Project Child Safe as part of NSSF Project Home Safe is funded by a $ 50 million dollar grant from the Department of Justice. Approximately 20 million free gunlocks will be available in all 50 states. Gun safety education materials are also available. If you are interested contact our office or come by for your locks.

Lastly, we are very involved this week with a Federal graded exercise with FEMA and Progress Energy. Also, we are participating with the Northeast Regional Task Force of the State of Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force. I'll tell you about the particulars in next week's column.