The local construction industry is rebounding, and with that, law enforcement anticipates an uptick in construction site theft.
Now, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office is bringing back a collaborative program with the building industry in an effort to stay on top of the problem.
Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott recently appointed First Class Deputy Daryl Aubuchon to serve as the law enforcement liaison with local building industry to address construction site theft.
As a law enforcement officer and co-founder of Aubuchon Homes, Inc. Deputy Aubuchon is uniquely suited for this role.
“We want to get ahead of this issue,” said Aubuchon. “We want to educate everybody in the process to make it easier for everybody so that these types of cases can be handled more efficiently, more effectively, and word can get out that if you’re involved in site theft, if you’re involved in unlicensed contracting, Lee County’s not the place for you.”
Aubuchon urges homebuilders to report all construction site thefts to law enforcement even if they’re minor thefts.
“The reason we need all these crimes reported is so we can map them out,” said Aubuchon. “And when we start seeing a pattern; we start seeing an area of the county that looks like it’s getting hit, we can deploy resources to that area and try to go ahead and set up surveillance and do a whole series of other things that can catch these guys.”
Aubuchon meets with members of the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association Thursday night at the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village to outline plans for the liaison program going forward.
