Excellent observation about the Sheriff's Office being in such close proximity to the crime scene. Amazing - these criminals can get away Scot-free right in the back yard of the police! Clearly, Sheriff Stube is failing miserably in his duties to the citizens of Manatee County. You can't blame me though - I voted for the other guy.

Dave, what I care for is the safety of my family and our right to live in a free society. Criminals have overrun my hometown and the Sheriff's office is clearly not as effective as they need to be, as is evidenced virtually every day in the endless crime reports of escalating severity. I have no grudge against the Sheriff's office. I am merely pointing out that they are not adequately fulfilling their responsibilities to keep us safe, therefore good citizens need to "up the ante" to ensure their family's safety by any means legally necessary, such as obtaining a concealed weapons license as I have done.

So it seems you agree with me that the police are not capable of keeping the good citizens of Manatee County safe. Whatever the excuse may be is not nearly as important as the fact that criminals have created a blight on our community and until law enforcement officials have gained the upper hand, good citizens need to take measures to protect their families, themselves, and their property - whatever those measures may entail.

Everyone's budget seems to have been cut. Good leadership, a core of quality people, and a culture of creativity can go surprisingly far in such situations. As in business, government should strive to eliminate waste and continually make improvements in every aspect of their operation. Failure to do so results in the pathetic situation we find ourselves in right now in Manatee County with crime running rampant on our streets and into our homes. Worse times are on the horizon, and additional budget cuts are bound to come, so will we just keep making excuses and remain complacient, or will we actually do something about it?

...which is exactly why we need better leadership in our law enforcement that can find ways to do more with less. It's being done in successful businesses every day, so there is no reason it can't be done in government too. Time to quit making excuses and do what needs to be done!

Excellent point Shawna. Hopefully DeSoto Square Mall's new owners (as I believe it was sold recently) will take that under consideration if they wish their investment to be fruitful.

I still wonder why the "on duty" police officers can't be more effective. We're all already paying for them (with our taxes), so why should we then have to pay them again for a job they were incapable of doing the first time? Perhaps private security would be better, and eliminate any conflict of interest concerns.

It almost appears as though Desoto Mall wants to go out of business. They can't seem to understand that their parking lot is empty because no one wants to go shopping with wannabee gangstas running into you and acting like savages.

No, but it would be an excellent location to build a new super-sized jail to house all of our criminals in Manatee County that plague our streets. They wouldn't have to take them far...haha

Who knows? I'm white so I stay away from it.

Amen brother!