Alert Patrolling

Last Sunday two individuals were arrested in connection to the theft of construction material at the Trillium construction site. Numerous charges levied for the two suspects included burglary of tools, burglary of a structure and grand theft. Apparently these two suspects posed as undercover police to raid construction sites in plain site. The arrests of these suspects was due to the alert patrolling of the Hernando County Sheriff's Department. To those that think this was a insignificant arrest for the Sheriff's Department, think again, please. Construction related burglary happens everyday in this county, this state, and across this country because open construction sites are an easy mark for criminal activity, like grand theft. With each theft, small or large, it has an impact on the company, or individual, associated with the crime. Consider the loss of tools for a blue collar worker. Hand tools are the person's livelihood, and when stolen, leave this worker devastated, and struggling to buy, or borrow tools, to earn a living. Companies either absorb the losses or face the possibility of increased insurance premiums, in the event a claim is made for the theft. With each new theft within the construction industry, expenses rise for the businesses and so does the cost for the consumers. As an owner of small electrical contracting business, we have faced theft many times over the years at construction sites that has cost us thousands of dollars in replacement tools and equipment. The most aggravating thing about construction theft for a small business, or individual, is witnessing the difficult job that our law enforcement officers face while trying to apprehend the criminals. Leads are few, or in most cases, leads are nonexistent, so the victims are left to deal with the loss without criminal prosecution. I'm sure that these arrests last Sunday by the Hernando County Sheriff' Department are being quietly applauded by many of us in the construction industry within Hernando County. I, for one, would like to just say thanks to the alert deputy that apprehended these two, alleged crooks last Sunday.