Chief Frazzano Provides Post Hurricane Ian Updates

It was a full house with over 90 guests for Our Daily Bread Food Pantry’s (ODBFP) October Lunch With Friends over 60. Volunteers served delicious baked Ziti, courtesy of Vicki Williams, and home baked Halloween themed cookies. It was the perfect setting for guests eager to listen to a post Hurricane Ian update from Marco Island Police Chief Tracy Frazzano.

According to the Chief, year one of her tenure on Marco was about Black Lives Matter protests and a combo of COVID. Year two was her battle with cancer and she happily declared she was cancer free. Year three is Hurricane Ian. 

She also shared that when she was applying for this job, her top priority was for the MIPD to become State accredited. Though not mandatory, it is something the Chief believed would professionalize the department. This is now in process, and if they pass the scheduled assessment in December, they hope to receive the accreditation in February, 2023. This will be a big accomplishment for the Department and for all the officers. According to the Chief, accreditation is having checks and balances in place.

Chief Frazzano asked the audience, “How many of you were still here during the Hurricane? Did you know there was a mandatory evacuation?”  Almost everyone in the room raised their hands. Chief reported the positive news that there were no fatalities or major injuries during the Hurricane. She also reported on the following:

• 321 marine vessels were either misplaced or in somebody’s yard or flipped upside down in the water. Marco’s Marine Unit took about two weeks checking every canal and waterway to locate debris or vessels out of place. They took vessel numbers and will try to locate the owners.

• MIPD performed 152 welfare checks for those who stayed on the island where off island family members were concerned and had no way to reach residents. 

• 106 citizen assists where MIPD went over to help residents.

• 177 residential alarm checks. When the power came back on, those alarms kept going off!

• Elevator Assistance. MIPD worked with Fire Rescue and condo management where condo elevators were not working and elderly residents couldn't get up or down in their buildings.

An audience member asked “We have a boat on our pool deck – when will it be removed? 

Chief Frazzano said that it is the obligation of the owner to get the boat removed and they have a grace period of 45 days. After 45 days, it is considered a derelict vessel and the City will have to start the removal process with the County and the State.

Fraud and telephone scams were also discussed. The Chief distributed a helpful handbook on “The Con Artist’s Playbook.” The two most common phone scams are the Medicare Scam, where scammers say you need a new card, and the Grandkid Scams, where you get a call saying “Grandma, I need money for bail.”

Chief asked the audience for a show of hands with this question: “How many of you think our Code Officers are doing a really good job?”  Few hands went up. 

The Chief stated that the “main function behind code is compliance.”  First thing is to educate whenever they get a code violation complaint; second, they issue warnings and these are written in the code. Chief shared that “we’ve never issued more violations for trash cans in the history of this department than we had in the last couple of months and that includes residents as well as short term rental areas.”

Before the Hurricane, our Code Officers were out checking all 381 construction sites to make sure everything was in order and did a re-check of these sites after the Hurricane. According to the Chief, Code Officers are one of the hardest working groups and the Chief wants to get the message out that Code is really doing a great job – though it is NOT being seen enough by residents. 

MIPD compiles a report monthly which is part of the City Council Agenda for the first meeting of each month. There is a section on Code Enforcement and what they do: Water Quality Issues, Beach and Protected Species and more in addition to their regular duties.