Question #11- Does the Type of Degree Matter?

Jose asks:

"I noticed that almost all the leadership in the Cape Coral Police Department have MPA's, as do I. I have recently applied, and wanted to know how much the type of college degree weighed in on hiring decisions?"

Great question Jose.  The Cape Coral Police Department requires 60 college credit hours in order to meet the minimum qualifications for hiring.  However, what you choose to take in terms of course work is entirely up to you.  While we do see a number of applicants with foci on Criminal Justice and Public Administration, we also have Officers here with degrees in Political Science, History, Art, Accounting, Law...you name it.  A diverse workforce allows us to draw on the strengths and knowledge that each Officer brings from their diverse educational backgrounds, so nothing is off limits.

Thanks for the question Jose.  If you have a question, please submit it to using the submission form to the right of the page.

Question 10- Re-Entry After a Hurricane

Bruce writes:

We live in a high hurricane risk area.  In the event of a hurricane, there may be restrictions on re-enrty into our home and area in general.  While our Id's are florida drivers licenses with a Cape coral address, are there other forms or permits that we may need for us to  show police that we live in the area?

Great question, Bruce.  Thank you for asking it and our compliments for being so forward thinking.  Cape Coral has a comprehensive disaster response plan.  In a nutshell, this is a 3-phase plan: 

The first phase allows for re-entry of agencies and groups that play key roles in restoring normal operations after a disaster. They may include search and rescue agencies, infrastructure and utilities repair personnel, and official damage assessment teams.  

The second phase allows for re-entry of critical support groups, such as relief workers, healthcare personnel, and pre-approved critical business operators. 

The third phase allows for re-entry of residents and non-critical business operators.  The third phase of re-entry will commence when the following factors are resolved:

• Access: Major routes are intact and passable.
• Public Health: There is no threat to public safety.
• Rescue: All search and rescue operations have been completed.

Residents and business operators will be required to show proper identification/documentation to enter an impacted area.

Proper identification for resident access includes:

• Current driver’s license
• Voter registration
• Utility bill
• Mortgage deed
• Property tax documents
• Car registration

Proper identification for business operators includes:

• Business license showing ownership
• Current utility bill
• Certificate of use
• Lease documents or similar documents

Proper identification for business employees includes:

• Employee identification badge
• Current payroll stub

We recommend a minimum of 2 forms of identification, so make sure that you add some of these documents to your hurricane/disaster kit.  Great question!  Thanks, Bruce.  If you have a question, submit it on the right-hand side of your screen.  While we don't post every question we receive, we do read and respond to each one.

Question #9- Securing Your AC and Water System.

Blain writes:

We've just purchased a little house in Cape Coral. The house will be empty a lot of the time. The realtor suggested we fence in the AC unit and water purification stuff at the side of the house to prevent theft. Do you think this would be helpful or necessary? Thanks. Blain

Great question Blain.  Thank you for writing in.

The advice your realtor gave you may be sound...with some caveats.  It is true that Cape Coral sees its fair share of AC, water system, and pool heater thefts from unoccupied residences.  This is usually because the offenders intend to sell the unit, or rather the precious metals contained within, for scrap.

Taking steps to provide additional security for your unit, to make it less enticing or more difficult to steal, is not a bad idea.  There are cages you can purchase that bolt to the concrete and/or the house that may work for you to deter theft.  Also, landscaping to conceal the unit may make potential thieves look elsewhere.

While these steps are good, nothing guarantees that your unit won't be targeted, especially if the house will sit dormant for a good part of the year.  Many metal thieves take time to case homes and look for seasonal homes that have no or few neighbors.  If a thief believes the payoff outweighs the risk, even a caged unit can be targeted.

We recommend taking reasonable steps to secure your property, but take time to meet your neighbors and get them on your side.  An alert neighbor who is looking out for you is worth their weight in gold.  Exterior lighting on timers or motion sensors might also help.  Finally, on www.capecops.com you can sign up for a vacation house check.  It's only good for a 30-day period during a CALENDAR year, but the service is free and gets additional eyes on your home in your absence.

We hope this helps.  Welcome to Cape Coral.  We think you are going to like it here.

Question #8- How Much is Too Much?

We received this question via Twitter:

"@CapePD How much is too much? I am 105 pounds, had 2 light beers, then drove home. How is alcohol level determined?"

Rather than give a 140 character answer that wouldn't do the question justice, we reached out to one of Cape Coral Police Department's DUI experts. Here is what he had to say:

"This answer is not an easy one. It depends on a number of issues. It depends on the person's tolerance, the percentage of alcohol in the drink, how much the person drank, their gender, what the person ate that day, and the person’s weight.

1 beer (12oz), 1 shot (1 ¼ ounce), and 1 glass of wine (4oz) have the same alcohol content. If you drink two beers and the alcohol level in them is .020 the body will expel most (3/4) of the alcohol in one hour. Once a person starts drinking, the body is trying to get rid itself of the alcohol. The body can not speed up the process of eliminating the alcohol. The easy rule of one drink an hour (depending on the drink) is what most cautious people do. The alcohol has to go through the stomach to the blood, the brain, the lungs, liver, and kidneys. The alcohol in a person’s system is determined by the grams of alcohol in a person’s body. Not to get too technical, but .08 is the legal limit for DUI. What that means is there are .08 grams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. Generally a woman will get impaired quicker due to a higher fat content. Women have this to protect an unborn child during a pregnancy. It can take a woman two hours to eliminate the same amount of alcohol a male can in one hour.

I will caution those reading this!!!!!!!! If you get a mixed drink from a bar or a large beer, the alcohol content will usually be higher. Some drinks will have more than one kind of alcohol in it and some bartenders have a heavy pouring hand.

The best bet is to have a designated driver or call a taxi!!!!!!! The cost of a DUI and the consequences that come with it are high and can be embarrassing."

Question #7- What Can Be Done About Neighborhood Nuisances?

Concerned Neighbor writes:

I would like to know what can  be done about  neighbors  that constantly have parties and loud music constantly. There is underaged drinking, lots of different people coming and going (I'm thinking drugs too), They seem to spend most of the time hanging out under their carport, with constant loud music, fighting, bad language, drinking , also underaged drinking, kids every age seem to hang out there constantly, if we could move I would but like most people our house isn't worth much right now. Plus I have kids one with a disability  who get scared from the constant arguing and parties? What can we do? plus I know they are known well to police, and I would be afraid of the reataliation if they knew we were to report them for anything? PLEASE HELP!

Hello Concerned,  

I can understand how frustrating this would be and how this negatively impacts your quality of life.  What can be done?  Well, the answer is, "a lot, but not without your help."  The police have a number of laws and ordinances at our disposal to deal with nuisances like this- noise ordinance, parking and other code enforcement actions, Florida statutes against underage drinking, open house parties, disorderly conduct, and narcotics.  Our quiver has quite a few arrows in it.  

In order for us to apply these tools, we have to know when the offenses are taking place.  So that means that either the officer has to happen upon the problem by chance, or there has to be a call for service to which an officer is dispatched.  Given the size of the city, hoping an officer finds the problem on their own will likely lead to disappointment and continued frustration.  

Our suggestion is to call the police and request an officer check out the problem.  When you speak to the Call Taker, you can let them know that you would like to remain anonymous and specify that you do not want the officer to come to your home.  We understand that you do not want to be the subject of retaliation.  You can call us at (239) 574-3223 or 9-11.  

Chances are good that this will not be a "one and done" situation, where the police come out once and you never have a problem again.  While you may have been suffering in silence for months with this ongoing problem, if you have never called the police, then there is no record of it in our computers.  If the officers go out and don't see anything overtly criminal or dangerous on their first visit, then likely a warning is all that will be issued (assuming that they see anything at all).  For this problem to be properly documented and addressed, you will have to notify the police each time you witness the offense.  Eventually, responding officers will see the "call history" in the computer system and will know that warnings are not the appropriate action to take.

The solution to this problem will require patience and persistence on your part.  There is no guarantee that each time you call an officer will see an arrestable or citable violation.  Without an independent 3rd party witness, the officer will have to observe the violation personally before taking any action.  Stick with it.  Give us every opportunity to see what you are seeing and do what we can do to make your neighborhood a more pleasant place to live.  In the long run, your persistence will pay off and eventually the officers responding will witness something for which they can take action, or the nuisance neighbors will get tired of the police coming to their house and change their behavior...or at a minimum, take it inside.