FORT MYERS, Fla. -- He's Lee County's top cop; a familiar face in the fight against crime. But a lot of people are wondering where Sheriff Mike Scott has been for the past year, at a time when county residents -- especially in Lehigh Acres -- have been asking for extra help to keep their neighborhoods safe.
Investigative reporter Alan Jennings couldn't get the sheriff or his staff to answer that question, so he did the next best thing: he tried to find out how much time the sheriff is spending at work by requesting his swipe card records.
Fox 4 used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents that show Sheriff Mike Scott over the last year didn't show up much at headquarters. We wanted to talk to him about it, but he refused to listen.
Wearing that big signature grin, Sheriff Scott made it clear he wasn't going to talk on camera. Before leaving a waterfront memorial to honor fallen police officers last week, as always the sheriff reaffirmed his tough stance on crime. “We want the same thing everyone wants: safe, secure neighborhoods."
But residents in Lehigh Acres have complained for years about rising crime and a lack of deputy manpower. As we've reported on dozens of car thefts, burglaries and shootings in Lehigh, the sheriff has remained silent; missing scheduled appearances, turning down media requests, and keeping a low profile.
Some have wondered, is he checked out? So we looked into whether he's checking in.
The swipe card documents reviewed by Fox 4 show Sheriff Mike Scott swiped in at headquarters in only half of all weekdays in 2016. That means Mike Scott didn't swipe in for 131 weekdays. There was one stretch in October where he didn't swipe in for 28 days in a row.
So if he wasn't swiping in to the office, was he still there? And if he wasn't there, where was he?
We wanted to ask those questions, so shortly after Sheriff Scott refused to talk to Fox 4 last week, we sent him an email asking for an on camera interview to help us understand, and clarify what we discovered on 17 pages of his swipe card records.
Here is Sheriff Scott's email reply:
"I can’t see the county from behind a desk. Consider this my final comment and have a great day. Mike.”
The sheriff's press staff tells Fox 4 that these swipe card documents do not reflect all of the sheriff's activities, since he attends police functions all of the time. But again, we still don't know how many of those 131 days he actually worked.
And we may never know, because the sheriff doesn't have to turn in a time card.
The sheriff's office also tells Fox 4 that Sheriff Scott has a master key that he uses to enter Lee County facilities. A key that bypasses the swipe system.
