About two dozen of Fort Myers’ most dangerous criminals received polite letters from the police chief this month, encouraging them to turn their lives around.
Chief Doug Baker sent letters to the city’s 25 most violent offenders, criminals Baker said are involved in 95 percent or more of local violent crime.
“Please be assured, you are being closely monitored by the Fort Myers Police Department and surrounding agencies,” the letters state. “I would hope this letter gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your chosen lifestyle.”
The letters close with an invitation to contact Baker for help getting off the violent offender list and are signed with the chief’s name.
“In the event that they are in over their heads and don’t know how to get out,” Baker said, “I would be more than happy to meet with them to use resources in our community to assist them in changing their lives .”
Fort Myers saw a record 24 homicides last year, up from 20 in 2011. The city’s first homicide of the new year occurred last month, when 27-year-old Kristopher Smith was shot outside the Apostolic Revival Center and Christian School in Dunbar. About three weeks later, a 4-year-old girl was beaten to death, her mother’s boyfriend arrested.
At this time last year, there had already been three homicides in the city.
Baker’s letters went out to people with extensive criminal histories and whose names pop up during criminal investigations. The police departments’ most violent offenders’ list is compiled internally and is not public.
Recipients of the letters include Jonas Griffin, 23, who has been arrested at least six times in Lee County on charges including second-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and armed robbery. Attempts to contact Griffin for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Walter Zalisko, a retired police chief and CEO of Fort Myers-based Police Management Consultants International, said there is no way a letter will change a violent criminal’s behavior.
“Chances are he’s just going to tear it up and laugh,” Zalisko said.
The letters could even harm a police investigation, as offenders could move once they realize they are being watched, Zalisko said.
Maj. Larry Casterline, of the High Point Police Department in North Carolina, said an attitude like Zalisko’s is misguided.
“We’ve really been treating (violent criminals) as though they’re not rational, for years,” Casterline said. “We don’t interact with them like they’re rational. Turns out that a good percentage of them are.”
Casterline’s department has been sending letters to its major criminal offenders for 15 years. The letters are customized and spell out exactly how much prison time the offender is facing if he or she re-offends.
But the letters are just a small part of the High Point Police Department’s crime deterrent strategy. Police bring members of the offender’s community to show the offender how his or her behavior hurts the community.
Police then offer the offender services including job training, GED classes, medication and mental health services.
Casterline said of roughly 1,000 offenders that have gone through the prevention program, 10 percent committed another violent offense.
“You literally end up arresting fewer young, black males who are typically exposed to (disproportionate) contact with police,” Casterline said.
Baker said he is working with Fort Myers clergy to develop a plan to reach out to the city’s violent offenders.
James Muwakkil, president of the Lee County branch of the NAACP, said he appreciates the chief’s creative approach to the city’s homicide problem.
“We are living in drastic times, and it does call for drastic measures,” he said. “We’re glad to see that he understands that.”
Muwakkil said his organization will investigate the letters if anyone in the community complains.
“The goal of these letters is prevention,” Baker said. “I think they need to seriously look at their lives, at the decisions they have made.”
But the letters are just a small part of the High Point Police Department’s crime deterrent strategy. Police bring members of the offender’s community to show the offender how his or her behavior hurts the community.
Police then offer the offender services including job training, GED classes, medication and mental health services.
Casterline said of roughly 1,000 offenders that have gone through the prevention program, 10 percent committed another violent offense.
“You literally end up arresting fewer young, black males who are typically exposed to (disproportionate) contact with police,” Casterline said.
Baker said he is working with Fort Myers clergy to develop a plan to reach out to the city’s violent offenders.
James Muwakkil, president of the Lee County branch of the NAACP, said he appreciates the chief’s creative approach to the city’s homicide problem.
“We are living in drastic times, and it does call for drastic measures,” he said. “We’re glad to see that he understands that.”
Muwakkil said his organization will investigate the letters if anyone in the community complains.
“The goal of these letters is prevention,” Baker said. “I think they need to seriously look at their lives, at the decisions they have made.”