ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997 TAG: 9703170104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: MARK SILVA THE MIAMI HERALD
Anyone who saw the `Today' show Friday heard a warning from John McDougall that a release of 500 violent inmates has made the Sunshine State a scary place to be.
- Advice to Florida-bound tourists on NBC's ``Today'' show: ``Don't come.''
Lee County Sheriff John McDougall told the show's 5 million viewers Friday that visiting Florida - where tourism is the No. 1 industry - is a bad idea because of the release this month of 500 prisoners.
Reaction was swift and predictable.
``God almighty,'' said Austin Mott, state chief of tourism marketing.
``It gave me indigestion,'' said Merrett Stierheim, director of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Authority.
``That sheriff ought to be thinking about what we can do, instead of sitting there sucking his thumb,'' said Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay.
At a time when tourism is up and crime is down, leaders worry that one man's view about last week's release of inmates may renew national fears about safety, which sent Florida tourism into a tailspin in 1992.
People should be scared, according to McDougall, 56, sheriff of Lee County since 1989 and neighboring Charlotte County before that.
``We have thousands of felons on the streets,'' McDougall told the ``Today'' show.
``They shouldn't be there. They're very violent. Until we can get them picked up and put them back in jail, we're going to have a very serious problem.''
McDougall, a Republican and career cop who moved to Florida in the 1970s for his children's asthma, is unrepentant about his remarks.
``All I can say is: I told the truth, and sometimes it's painful to tell the truth, and sometimes it's painful to hear it,'' McDougall said later. ``I don't consider myself a politician [I] consider myself a lawman.''
Although 22,705 inmates were released from Florida's penitentiaries last year - an average of 62 a day - there is something unique about the 500 leaving this week and next. They are murderers, rapists and other violent convicts, but the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Florida acted wrongly in denying them early-release ``gain time'' offered to other offenders.
The rate of crime in Florida has fallen since 1989, and tourism is going better than ever - 43 million visitors last year, up from 41 million the year before. So far this year, in January and February, hotel occupancy has been ``exceptional,'' according to the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corp.
Tourism marketing involves millions of dollars of national advertising each year. Florida destinations advertise on programs such as ``Today'' and cringe at adverse publicity.
``That is awful, just terrible,'' said Mott, the state tourism chief. ``Tourism is such a fickle thing - any little thing said can scare people off.''
``We would be in bad straits if people didn't come and visit us,'' said a woman at the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce who didn't want to be identified. ``The more tourists, the better here. ... We spend a lot of money to attract them.''
``It reinforces what I consider to be a fallacious image of Florida and in particular Greater Miami,'' Stierheim said. ``Crime is a problem. ... Florida certainly doesn't have a monopoly on it.''
But NBC missed something, says MacKay: Florida's resolve to do something about the releases. By month's end, he says, the governor wants to sign a bill guaranteeing that any released inmate will be sentenced to at least twice as much time as what he had shaved from his sentence if he commits another crime. House Speaker Dan Webster is promoting a similar bill.
McDougall says he wasn't trying to hurt anyone's business.
``I have the courage to say this is a serious problem. ... Let's look at the problems, not try to kill the messenger.''
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB