Republican Club of Sumter County president Joe Elliott, introduced William O. “Bill” Farmer to the crowded Lake Miona Rec Center room as the only Sheriff who has ever run for three-consecutive terms unopposed. Farmer, who came to the Sheriff’s Department in 1971, was first elected Sheriff in 1996 and has held the office for eighteen years. He hopes to run again in 2016, and announced he and his wife, Linda, who was in the audience, were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.
Farmer, who was invited to speak about the Sheriff’s Office’s wide range of projects and undertakings, touted the Citizen’s Academy — a six week course open to all county citizens,which educates interested residents about the inner workings of his full-service law-enforcement organization. “Sheriff Bill” is also proud of their program which has already qualified 440 retired law enforcement officers to obtain concealed weapons permits. He encouraged other individuals to join in this effort.
Farmer mentioned their Home Security Program, wherein deputies can check out private homes and make recommendations for increased security against home invasion thefts and falls. The Sheriff”s Office offers a golf cart safety courses which promote safe operation of golf carts in traffic. He talked about their high arrest record for several bands of robbers who recently broke into Villages homes. “When Villagers are accused of serious crimes,” Farmer said, “ours deputies try to arrest the suspects away from their Villages retirement community, so as not to cause havoc in the neighborhood.”
“The largest volume of complaints we get from Villagers,” Sheriff Farmer said, “involves traffic control. We have equipment we can place to study traffic patterns, and law enforcement can target streets shown to be problem areas.” Audience members praised the ‘Shop with a Cop’ Christmas gift programs which benefit local youngsters. Sheriff Bill also said it is not well known that they return unspent portions of their annual budget to the county’s general fund to be reserved for emergencies — like the multiple 2004 hurricanes and the deadly 2007 tornado.
During a question and answer period, Farmer noted the Florida Sheriff’s Association issued a proclamation opposing medical marijuana. “In California, doctors and physician assistants set up clinics next door to marijuana shops,” he observed, “and anyone can get a prescription for ‘terrible back pain’ and readily obtain the drug. Approval of medical marijuana would be the same as legalizing the drug.” In response to a question about any type of future domestic “homeland security-type army activities,” Sheriff Farmer stated Sheriffs in all 68 Florida counties have sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitutions of the State of Florida and The United States of America, and will act accordingly. He also described mutual aid contracts area sheriffs and police chiefs have signed to work together across each others’ jurisdictions whenever such action is needed. “We are on the same page, fighting for the same things,” he said, “and we have great working relationships.”
Lastly, Farmer reminded folks about the Vial of Life medical information program and encouraged widows, widowers and others who live alone to take advantage of their Peace of Mind program. Participants call into a central location each morning, and if a call is not received, an officer is dispatched to see if there is a problem. “We don’t want anyone lying helpless on the floor with no one to assist them,” he said.
Republican Executive Committee Representative for Sumter County, Rich Cole, briefly rallied the crowd to unite for Governor Rick Scott’s re-election. He asked for volunteers to man Republican Headquarters at Lake Sumter Landing, which will open July 4th. State Committeeman for the Republican Party of Florida, John Calandro, warned against allowing the party to be torn apart by minor issues we may not agree on. “We need to stay together on the big issues,” he said. “In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In an election, it’s turnout, turnout, turnout. We need to get our message out to like-minded individuals and show up and vote.”