The Babcock Ranch Community Support department functions as a municipal service department while continuing to support public safety. COURTESY PHOTO
One word can make a big difference. The transition from Babcock Ranch Community Patrol to Babcock Ranch Community Support has been in the works for about a year, according to Rob Arent, the Babcock Ranch Residential Association’s executive director. The change in name and responsibilities was announced in June, and residents soon began to see the new name on vehicles and staff uniforms.
Arent shared that under the new name, the department functions more like a quasi-public works or a municipal service department and less like a safety patrol team. The legal policing authority was always under the Charlotte County and Lee County Sheriff ’s Offices, while the community patrol team provided extra eyes and ears when there were far fewer residents and fewer deputies assigned to the new town being built. “Once we grew in size to warrant more staffing, the county supplied it,” he said…