TALLAHASSEE – Bill McCollum is the 36th Attorney General of Florida, elected in November 2006. Since taking office, he has positioned Florida as a national leader in the fight against child pornography and internet child predators.
As Attorney General, Bill’s other priorities include developing a statewide strategy to address gangs, violent crime and drugs; consumer protection; combating Medicaid fraud; improving the state’s security against terrorist threats, and fighting crimes against the elderly, especially identity theft.
Bill McCollum
South Florida Caribbean News went One-On-One with Bill McCollum recently about his office and initiatives affecting the growing Caribbean- American community in Florida.
SFCN: What are some of the initiatives being employed by your office as it relates to consumer protection?
Bill McCollum (BM): Mortgage fraud is a big concern among individuals who are not in high income brackets. There are 20 active cases in South Florida, with a major lawsuit against Country Wide.
Another initiative for our office is: Identity theft. We are creating a public awareness campaign which includes the following:
– Mobile Document shredding campaign
– Hotline for seniors
– 866-9 no scam
Prepaid Calling cards has been an issue especially within the Caribbean-American community with individuals being taken advantage of. Our office went after 10 major companies and discovered that their advertising was deceptive and we were able to resolve the issues of fees, minutes and disclosures. The companies were required to make a clear representation, no surcharges, round to the nearest minute instead of the nearest 3 to 5 minutes and disclaimers were required to be printed in a language other than English for consumers to understand such as Spanish or Creole.
SFCN: What is the greatest public misconception of the duties of the Office of the Attorney General?
Bill McCollum (BM): That all we do is prosecute criminals for violent crimes. We want people to know that we are dealing with issues such as Mortgage Fraud, Lemon Law, Medicaid fraud / scams, Protecting Senior Citizens due to abuse and neglect of senior citizens in senior living centers.
People do not realize the breath of what we do.
SFCN: How can the public help your office to carry out its most important functions?
Bill McCollum (BM): By getting involved. If you are a victim of a scam you can call, 866-9 no scam; Visit our web-site, myfloridalegal.com to see the list of most wanted fugitives; Visit safeflorida.net and become more educated on Cybercrime as is relates to kids, especially parents and grandparents; We have set up 34 locations throughout Florida for seniors who want to volunteer there time for Seniors vs. crime.
SFCN: What grade would he give the Attorney General’s office on its current outreach to immigrant groups–Hispanic, English-Speaking Caribbean, Haitian-American–in Florida?
Bill McCollum (BM): A Good grade, we could do better. Our literature is translated in both Spanish and Creole. We have required that advertisements in Florida must have disclaimers in the language of the ad.
SFCN: How does the Office of Attorney General plan to change its approach to Caribbean American Outreach in the future?
Bill McCollum (BM): Our office needs to be involved with more targeted media such a publications like South Florida Caribbean News, radio programs that targets both the English and non-English speaking Caribbean communities.
Our plan is to attend more cultural events to reach out to the various segments of the community to distribute literature about the Attorney General’s office and what we do.
SFCN: What type of Immigrant Outreach has been implemented for Caribbean Americans in the past?
Bill McCollum (BM): We have Representatives in the community on Spanish radio in Tampa and Orlando plus we have 12 offices throughout the state including, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.
In closing, McCollum wants our community to know that his office is accessible and we should feel free to make contact if we feel that we are being taken advantage of. Get involved.
