Sworn Statement Podcast

CCSO’s Victim Advocacy Unit provides support and crisis care for survivors of crime. Within that unit is our Senior Services group that specializes in protecting aging adults and providing resources to caregivers. In this episode, find out how our Senior Advocates keep these vulnerable people safe, and how the Collier County Sheriff’s Office helps families prevent their loved ones from going missing.

Prevention, intervention, treatment, wellness. That's the philosophy of the Collier County Sheriff's Office Behavioral Health Bureau (BHB), which helps people in crisis resulting from mental illness or substance use struggles. In this episode members of our BHB describe how CCSO is addressing mental health in our community by providing support and resources to those who need it.

Are e-bikes allowed on the road? What about e-scooters? Are helmets required? Are there different rules for different types of e-bikes? How can we make the roads safer for both riders and drivers? In this episode we break down all the rules and regulations for e-bikes, e-scooters and e-motos. We’ll also tell you what you need to know to stay safe on one of these electronic modes of transportation, plus how to protect your e-bike from theft.

You might think of shoplifting as a minor crime, but it can have major impacts. Retail theft causes stores to raise prices for law-abiding citizens. And many times suspects who shoplift go on to commit more serious crimes. In this episode, two members of Retail Theft Unit discuss their efforts to prevent these crimes, how they track down thieves, and why it’s vital to our community.

In this episode we’re exploring one of the essential roles of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, but one most people are unfamiliar with – bailiffs. Bailiffs are vital to the safety and security of our courts. CCSO bailiffs Sgt. Juan Muniz and Cpl. Kevin Dennis join us to explain their jobs, how they work with judges, and why they’re essential in keeping the courts running smoothly. They also explain why the role of bailiff is a career you should consider.

This is the height of hurricane season. More hurricanes have hit Florida in September than in any other month. That includes two of the biggest storm to ever strike Southwest Florida – Irma in 2017, and Ian in 2022. In this episode we look back at Irma and Ian, and discuss what lessons we can learn from them going forward. We'll tell you how to be prepared before and during a hurricane, but also what to do and how to protect yourself after the storm.

When people go missing, the deputies of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office follow every trail and investigate every lead possible to try to find them. Even if those leads go cold, a missing person case is never closed. Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and his deputies are always searching. But what does that search look like? How do our detectives investigate? Where do they look? What tools does CCSO have to find missing people? And why do we work so hard to solve these cases? In this episode we discuss the great lengths CCSO goes to in order to find missing persons.

As we enter hurricane season, Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office are prepared to protect our community in any scenario. That’s why CCSO has partnered with the emergency communications team in Charleston, South Carolina. In program that’s one of the first of its kind, CCSO and Charleston will serve as each other’s backups if either 911 system goes down due to a hurricane or any other largescale emergency.

In this episode, we’re looking at how this partnership is possible. How can two jurisdictions separated by 600 miles answer each other’s calls and get first responders where they need to go? And what does it mean for the people of Southwest Florida, and those in Charleston?

For National Correctional Officers Week, we taking a look at our deputies inside the jails who are responsible for the safety of the inmates. Our Corrections Department’s mission is to create a safer community by effectively managing offenders and providing opportunities for positive change. In this episode, we talk to three Correctional Officers who are doing just that. We’ll tell you what it’s like to work inside the jail, why it’s a surprisingly rewarding job, and why it might be a career worth looking into.

When there’s a large-scale critical incident in Collier County, Sheriff Kevin Rambosk turns to his Emergency Response Team. The ERT is highly trained in tactical response so it can respond to high-risk situations. Originally started for crowd safety at large gatherings, the ERT has evolved into a multi-purpose, do-it-all team that can respond to any situation to protect the people of Collier County.

In this episode, we talk with two members of CCSO’s ERT, Lt. John Russo and First Sgt. James Driscoll. They describe how our ERT became the Swiss Army Knife of our agency. They tell us about their specialized training and all the different situations they’ve responded to – from hurricanes to brush fires to missing persons to protests.