Chief's Chat #32: Two DUI Cases. One Clear Message.

This week, we had two tragic DUI cases: one a fatal crash, and another stopped by a brave 13-year-old who called 911. In this episode of the Cape CopCast 'Chief's Chat,' we walk through what happened, why impaired driving is never an accident, and how early planning—rideshare, a designated driver, or a spare room—prevents tragedy long before the first drink is poured. This sparks a conversation about the limits of enforcement, even with DUI operations and dedicated night-time DUI officers, and make the case that responsibility is the biggest fix. 

We then pivot to discussing upcoming events, including the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, a tradition that unites agencies across Lee County and channels miles into inclusion and support. We highlight the NAMI Bridge Walk and how it ties into our Crisis Intervention Team training, plus a packed local calendar that makes February and March perfect for getting outside, moving your body, and connecting with neighbors. 

We also remind you about our Financial Crimes Town Hall at the Lake Kennedy Center on Monday, March 2nd at 1 p.m. Our Economic Crimes Unit Detectives will break down current scams, warning signs, and simple ways to protect your accounts and identity, so you can stress less and enjoy more sunsets. 

Transcript

Format Refresh And Show Milestone

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Compcast Chief's Chat Edition. Today I'm one of your hosts, Lisa Greenberg.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I'm Officer Mercedes Simons. Together we make up the public affairs office. And once again, we have Chief Anthony Sizemore.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome back. I think what's crazy is I'm was editing this last week. I think we're this is episode 32. Wow. We've done this 32 times, not including the other episodes that we've done with you, but the Chiefs chat ones alone 32 episodes today. I'm pretty sure. I might be wrong, but it's around that number.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

It still feels like the first one in a good way.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

In a good way. But I feel like we've also like changed our format and grown and all that good stuff. So gonna keep pushing the envelope. I'm excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

We were actually talking about changing our format and maybe updating a little bit in here. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Yeah. You talked me into it. I like it.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

We think it'd be nice to have a table so that we could all have our coffee cups and you know, something to lean on. Yeah. A little more conversational.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Something cool coming very soon.

Two DUI Cases Rock The Community

SPEAKER_00 1:03

We'll work on that. We'll work on that now that we have your permission. So obviously, we have had a really busy week. We had two pretty big DUI arrests that got a lot of media attention. And it's scary to think about these things happening on our roadways.

Consequences And Personal Responsibility

SPEAKER_02 1:18

100%. I mean, both of them are tragic in their own way, right? And they serve as a stark reminder for all of us. You got the one that a young man who recently got arrested for DUI for coming, I mean, within inches of hitting one of our officers. So one of our officers was, we're going back a couple of months. One of our officers is on the side of the road on a traffic stop. There was uh several officers. And this car breezes by, didn't observe the move over law, didn't slow down, just really, really careless and reckless. And the officers went and caught up to him, and he was DUI. Young man, 20, early 20s. And you fast forward to last weekend, tragically, that same young man was driving and uh another couple backing out of their driveway and a terrible collision. Um it was a husband and wife, the wife died instantly. Um the husband is hurt, and uh so many lives are shattered, right? You look at so many people, the obviously the wife is deceased and they have family, right? They have children, neighbors, friends, the husband. You you go there's no time to say goodbye. It's just an instant life-altering situation. And then you look at the young man where his life will never be the same, his parents' lives will never be the same. It's just it's such a selfish act to drive under the influence in any situation. But when you have uh ride share, you have Uber Lyft, old-fashioned taxis, you have a designated driver, you have so many options other than that act, because that can happen to anyone. And and it's it's just so sad for everybody involved. And obviously, we we grieve for the family, uh, the survivors of it. And and I grieve for the young man too, because I don't believe he woke up that day wanting that to happen. Of course, but his his actions have created just a cascading effect of of grief for his family included. It's just a just a terrible situation. And then several days after that, we had a young woman who's uh in a situation at home leaves, and she's got her minors, minor children in the car, and she's driving under the influence so to a degree that her own children called. A 13-year-old now.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

A thirteen year old 13-year-old with two little kids in the backseat.

See Impaired Driving Call 911

Plan Rides And Host Safely

SPEAKER_02 4:00

You think about when you were 13, what you had to deal with or what would make your day uncomfortable. Yeah. And then look at this 13-year-old who's scared to death for herself, for her mother, and for the other two kids in the car, and you know, good on her for calling. For sure. That's hard. What didn't happen on Sunday, or what did happen on Sunday, I'm sorry, didn't happen on this case because this little girl was brave and called, and and hopefully this this mom can get the help that she needs after she deals with her legal trouble. For sure. I think the big big takeaway for everybody here is that it impacts everyone, the people involved, but also you share the roadway with these people. So I would ask if you see somebody that's driving under the influence, call us, call 911. That is a definite 911 call. Don't struggle to find the non-emergency line. What do I do? You call 911 and let us know. I'm behind somebody. It appears as though they're driving intoxicated, and then we will keep you on the phone and we will get to you and then we will take over. And if we observe any behaviors like that, we'll be able to take some action. But also, if you're hosting a party, I mean, these aren't new concepts here. If you're hosting a party, make sure that your guests either have a place to stay there for the night, if you're doing a big barbecue and you know, I got room for you guys to stay. Make sure that that you have a ride home safe before it's very difficult when the when the the drinks are flowing and the party's happening, to then be responsible and figure out what you're gonna do. Be responsible beforehand. This is how I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna Uber there, Uber home. I'm gonna get a ride there, or I'm gonna be the designated driver for everybody and make sure people get home. It just that little bit of extra responsibility can can save lives and and stop that that shattering of so many lives that we saw just in one week.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

A thousand percent. I mean, we can do so much education, we can do DUI operations where we're specifically sending officers on their overtime to go out and look for people who are driving drunk. We can use our DUI officers who work every night, and that is their sole function. But at the end of the day, it comes down to personal responsibility. And the fact that we have to have DUI officers exist shows the issue at hand. And if people would just actually be responsible and do the right thing, it wouldn't even be necessary.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Yeah, we make way too many DUI arrests, and we're proud of it. We're proud to be out there looking for them, arresting people who are driving under the influence. However, we wish that number was zero. We wish that it never happened at all. Those are life-altering consec decisions that have life-altering consequences.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Right. We talked about it when uh the red speed cameras came. I challenge everybody beat the system. Don't I hope we get zero. I hope we get zero DOI arrests because people aren't driving drunk. You know, there's an old phrase, I think Bill Parcells, who do you know Bill Parcells? That name ring a bell.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I got nothing. Nothing.

Education Versus Enforcement Limits

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Hopefully to somebody out there it does. Bill Parcells was the coach of the New York Giants. Okay. Most famously, then he was with the Patriots and the Jets, but he won the Super Bowl uh twice with the Giants. And he was a pretty hard guy, old school football coach. And he said, Your best ability is availability, right? You're available to play for us if you're hurt, you don't do us any good. Well, I would kind of translate that to being a good citizen here in the city. Your best ability is responsibility. And that's my Bill Parcell's coaching tip. So be responsible. We can do as many operations as we could do. We could have um 500 officers out there on extra detail doing DUI enforcement. There's nothing that will replicate or nothing will take the place of personal responsibility. Absolutely. That's for any kind of driving behavior, speeding, red lights, uh careless, um, aggressive driving, DUI, anything like that. Nothing beats personal responsibility.

Torch Run For Special Olympics

SPEAKER_01 8:06

So that's something we take incredibly seriously. Let's switch to something a little bit less heavy. Yeah. Um, this morning we had the torch run. That's something that we participate in every year. I I ran it, it was four miles, and there I was running along, trying to keep up with all the guys, honestly. We had uh we had deputy chief campion running and then some of our cops unit, and they're all like just really fit runners.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

And then she's in shape, she won't brag about it, but she she ran a mile and a half for a fitness test here at the department in less than 13 and a half minutes.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

So selling me out, Lisa. Listen, she's she's a beast. I'm trying, you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

And what is tell I know what it is, but tell people what does the torch run for?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

So the torch run is to benefit the Special Olympics. We do a lot of different events each year um to try to raise funds, raise awareness, whatever it can be. This year, um, we partnered up with the Lee County Sheriff's Office and different other local police departments to carry the torch and run.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

That's the biggest um, I guess, awareness campaign is the the law enforcement special Olympics torch run. And it's been going on um nationally. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to think how long. I've 30 years this year for me as a as a cop, and it's been going on as long as I've been a cop. It's a big, big deal. And um, big awareness thing, right? They're out on six mile Cypress Parkway and then 41. And um, at least it was beautiful weather today. It's been freezing cold for the torch run, and it's been blazing hot. Today was kind of nice.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Yeah, it was great. It was actually my first torch run. It's funny because like we talk about nationally and how it's been going on forever. I know like I've got a shirt from 10 years ago that I bought, but this was my first time actually running it. So I feel like I earned the shirt this time. Yeah, that's awesome.

NAMI Partnership And Bridge Walk

SPEAKER_02 9:59

And uh Cape Coral PD has been big into the Special Olympics, you know, partnership. Uh the Sheriff's Office, big time, uh Fort Myers PD, uh airport, the colleges, every local law enforcement agency. We all work together to raise awareness and raise money and partner and and really shine a positive light on the Special Olympics. It's a great community event. It's really cool. And there's a lot of good community events that we wanted to chat about.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

NAMI's coming up soon, too. It's kind of, I mean, they're both outside, walk, run, get your exercise in, have nice views, enjoy the outside weather. So that'll be good too. That's the um walk that benefits the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Yep. Um, we talk about that every year, though, with the CIT training. They help with our crisis intervention training. It's a really good, big partnership that we have with them. That's coming up. We've had so many awesome things.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Nami's kind of my thing. They I've been on the board. Well, I'm not on the board anymore. Excuse me. I'm I'm now I'm a liaison to the board. But one of the their one and only big signature fundraising event is the Nami Bridge Walk or Sunset Walk. It's awesome. It's really fun. It's a great event. It's cool. It's downtown Fort Myers Centennial Park. Uh, it's in March, a couple weeks away, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yeah.

Community, Civility And Getting Outside

SPEAKER_02 11:21

And it's right at sunset, um, raising awareness for mental health. And it's good good time of year. And we were talking about it before. Um, there's another one coming up. I forgot. It's the Cape Coral Police Athletic League, or they have the Dunkin Donuts Dash 5K. Uh, we'll have more information about that. I don't know exactly when it is, but it's gonna be in this really compact February and March are huge for Southwest Florida.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Because the holidays are over, the weather's good, we're getting everything in before uh April, right? Because it starts to get warm. Yes, and then May. Some people say it's warm, some people say it's hot, but you know, your outdoor activities start to wane a little bit at the end of May. Yeah. So March is peak outside.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

It's perfect. It's the perfect time to go, get outside for a walk, not just the Nami walk, but what you take a walk around your neighborhood.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

I think it's a perfect opportunity. I had a I won't get into too much personal stuff, but I had a great weekend with my family last weekend, and we were outside, and there was a lot of people outside, and we were you just see people and you talk, and what I thought was really cool is nobody said, Hey, who you voting for? Nationally, state, local. Um, it was real people being real neighbors, being real Floridians or visitors to Florida. They were enjoying the outside, and it was human beings, not Facebook comments come to life, right? That that craziness. And the the what I would ask people to do, it'll really raise your your endorphins or make you feel good. Take a walk, see a neighbor that you know, talk to them, see a neighbor that you haven't met yet, talk to them. Um, when you're driving down the road and somebody's trying to merge over, let them in. Let them in. Give them the flash of the lights, give them the old whatever, and uh it'll make you feel good.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Sometimes you just need to get outside and touch grass.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Touch grass. My son says that sometimes. Touch grass.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah, that's the thing. When you're getting too crazy on social media, you say, Hey, just go outside and touch grass.

Financial Crimes Town Hall Details

SPEAKER_02 13:37

You get getting a little bit too too digital in life here. Let's get out, enjoy. Um see why everybody's coming here, right? You got so many cool venues in the Cape. Go check it out. A lot of more mom and pop restaurants than a lot of places. So go have a good meal. Um make sure you get a ride home arranged and then have a nice cocktail. Yep. And then get home. Um, see the sunset. The sunsets this time of year are absolutely perfect. When you can wear shorts during the day and shorts and maybe a little hoodie or a sweater at night. Perfection. It this is it, man. Better soak it up. We got a great community. We really do. And when you when you take a step back from crazy work, crazy school, um, after school activities, bills, um, just there's a lot to get you mad, get you down, get you spun up. Take a break and really enjoy why we're here. There's so many great things. There's so many great people here. Enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah. And if you're watching this before March 2nd, which hopefully you are, because we release every Friday. It's not till Monday, but we have the Financial Crimes Town Hall on Monday, March 2nd at 1 p.m. at the Lake Kennedy Center. We're gonna have uh economic crimes detectives to talk about a lot of the scams and red flags that they've been seeing to make sure that people keep themselves safe and keep their money safe because that gives you one less thing to stress about so that you can go outside and take a walk and enjoy it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

All right. Thank you so much for joining us today. And stay safe. Have a good one.