Message from the Mayor: Public Safety

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The paramount job of government is to keep its residents safe. In this Deep Dive I want to talk about our efforts to do just that -- what we have been doing and what we intend to do. As an overview, while we are a comparatively safe city and have, statistically, been getting safer -- none of that matters if some people feel unsafe or if parts of our City are unsafe. And some people do and some places are. So when it comes to public safety there is always work to do, which is why we are constantly rethinking our approaches. For instance, you will notice a redoubling of our community policing efforts as well as new approaches to tamping down the atmosphere in our entertainment district. Our City’s challenges are unique. Though our population has been relatively stable for decades at roughly 92,000 residents, we attract many millions of visitors a year and our daily population can exceed 300,000 on many days. We are a famous destination known not just for our beaches and cultural venues, but also for our restaurants and bars which are hubs of late night activity. Many of our visitors come from other countries, most arrive with money in their pockets and a desire to explore, some come for high profile gatherings, and a few don’t even speak the language. Of those few visitors who are victims of a crime, some will not even be in town afterward to participate in the criminal prosecution of their offenders. Which means that they are optimal targets for those few who come to our City with bad intentions. All this is happening on a 7 mile long barrier island. So, yes, we can be a handful. Which is why we need to pay so much attention to our law enforcement resources. Part of the challenge is to make sure our efforts to protect our tourists (who tend to be the victims of most crimes) don’t cause us to neglect our residential communities who have an understandable expectation that our neighborhoods should be crime-free.  Here is how we are navigating these challenges:

Your MBPD

We have 416 police officers in our police department, which is an increase from two years ago. Of this number, 272 are patrol and supervisors of patrol. Our police department also includes 24 Support and Technical Services officers, and 93 members of the Criminal Investigations Division team, which includes our detectives and crime scene technicians. All our police and administrative police staff, as well as our 41 reserve officers, report to our new Police Chief Rick Clements and Deputy Police Chief Wayne Jones. Chief Clements was unanimously approved by our Commission this summer. Having spent nearly a decade as a federal prosecutor, I came across scores of law enforcement personnel. These two men are among the highest quality I have worked with.

Chief Rick Clements has spent his entire 29-year career with the Miami Beach Police Department. He is the son of and a father to Miami Beach cops. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Utah, served in our SWAT team for 16 years, and was also once shot and injured in the line of duty while apprehending a suspect. It was a pleasure to call up his dad, John, a retired MBPD officer, to swear-in his son as our Chief. Deputy Chief Wayne Jones has served with distinction in the MBPD since 1996 and has received numerous commendations and awards throughout his career. He is a licensed pilot who holds an Associate of Science Degree in Aviation, a dual Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Public Administration, and also earned a graduate degree in Public Administration from Florida International University.

It was a sweet moment as Chief Clements was sworn in by his dad, John, a retired MBPD officer.

Deputy Chief Jones' twin toddlers adorably stole the show at the swearing-in ceremony.

Assistant Chief Paul Acosta 305-673-7925 Major Samir Guerrero, Support Services 305-673-7776 ext. 25548 Major David De La Espriella Patrol Operations 305-673-7776 ext. 25547 Major Enrique "Henry" Doce Criminal Investigations Division 305-673-7776 ext. 25449

Public Safety, By The Numbers

Overall our crime rate has been trending down over the last few years according to the latest Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data. At the same time, however, there is a perception by some that crime is more systemic. So let's take a look at the numbers to truly understand where we are in terms of crime, who is most affected, and how.

Even though the vast majority of crimes are non-violent and usually larcenies, our City has always had a higher crime rate than many other places with similar resident populations. This is so because crime rates are based on the ratio of all crimes committed as a percentage of the City’s resident population (in our case 92,000). The rate doesn’t factor in the presence of visitors and tourists and doesn’t consider at all whether crimes are actually committed against residents or nonresident visitors (which in our case number in the many millions). Significantly, most crimes and nearly all violent crime in our City are actually committed against visitors and not against our residents for many of the reasons I explained earlier.

So with regard to crimes against our residents, according to the UCR data collected by the Miami Beach Police Department, crimes against our residents occur far less frequently than those committed against visitors. A little less than 2.5% of our residents were the victims of crimes last year and that number has also fallen consistently for the last two years as well.

If we look at the crimes against our residents, the vast majority every year are lower tier larcenies. This crime category has made up over 60% of the crimes committed against residents in each of the last four years.  This does not mean we are at all content with the status quo -- it just means that our crime rate against residents is comparatively low -- and almost always non-violent larcenies. Still, if you have had your car broken into, or something stolen from your garage, it feels very serious and shatters your sense of safety and well-being. We will continue to work to improve. It's also worth examining the impact of the Mixed-Use Entertainment (MXE) District on our public safety challenges.

Historically, our Entertainment District has accounted for a significant portion of the more serious crimes in the City and, as you might expect, is where much of the high profile crime against visitors and tourists occurs. This percentage has barely fluctuated over the years though the ratio of violent crime in the Entertainment District has decreased 5%, from 24% in 2017 to 19% for the first six months of 2019. So the bottom line is that while we continue to make solid progress in much of the City, our gains in the Entertainment District have been modest at best.

Current Efforts

Before we get into some of the newer initiatives you can expect, I’d like to inventory some of our ongoing efforts that may illustrate where our resources are allocated.

Police in Schools: After the horrific tragedy in Parkland, I asked the City Commision to immediately post our police in our public schools. We were one of the first municipalities in the state to have our own police officers posted permanently in every public school. We didn’t want to worry about whether school police were on our radio frequency or wait for hiring decisions from elsewhere -- we wanted our people right there outside and inside our schools. This was only possible thanks to the dedicated work by our City staff and my Commission colleagues, and with the support of Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

Catching up with Miami Beach Police Officer Jimmy Gotsis, the School Resource Officer at Beach High and a MBSH alumnus, as students arrive to school. Our Officers are not merely patrolling our public schools -- they are working to be part of the fabric of the school experience so our kids learn how to interact with their police. Like Officer Gotsis at Beach High who participates in school activities and is well-known to every kid as someone they can talk to. We have also helped with efforts to better secure our private and religious schools through training and offering of our police radios.

Protection of Houses of Worship: We have so many special places for our residents to express their faith. Yet we know that hate exists and the unthinkable does happen, which is why it's critical to be vigilant. Our Area Captains and officers regularly work with all our faith leaders to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep them safe. Efforts include trainings and on-site facility safety assessments by our SWAT team, and special action plans to ensure proper police presence during heightened times of worship so that congregants feel safe when they attend services.

Park Rangers: Park Rangers are the friendly faces in our parks in fluorescent yellow shirts, often on bicycles or on foot. They serve multiple functions, like issuing verbal warnings for ordinance violations, doing homeless outreach, and occasionally assisting Police with arrests. Although they are not sworn law enforcement officers with arrest powers, these 36 Park Rangers are overseen by our police department and make a big difference. I believe their presence alone deters misconduct and enhances a sense of security in our parks.

Chronic Offender Initiative: Many of the crimes committed in our City are from the same small group of unapologetic repeat offenders. So rather than just playing whack-a-mole with the same criminal community, MBPD has formalized a policing strategy focused on reducing the number of crimes committed by this group. Part of that includes a Sergeant assigned as a Crime Strategist Supervisor to make sure we stay on top of the repeat offenders.

Beach Theft Protection Initiative: It's unfortunate that one of our greatest amenities, our beach, is also one of the areas criminals choose to target. That is why MBPD has implemented a strategy to address this issue through repeat, long-term, and unannounced beach theft details. This strategy uses a blend of uniformed officers, plain clothes units, and volunteers with the intent to create a new, safer status quo, and has already yielded 46 arrests this year.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: The concept of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a tried and true way to work smarter, not just harder, on public safety. MBPD has fully embraced this concept and is working collaboratively with other City departments like Parks & Recreation to make sure City infrastructure projects take this idea into consideration at every phase of the process. For example, our G.O. Bonds include funding for upgraded LED lighting in parks across the City, and the current Flamingo Park improvement project has dramatically improved lighting in the area.

Homelessness and Crime: Homelessness is on the rise nationally and is a common issue in communities, like ours, with abundant parks and an inviting climate. Even so our daily homeless population has been stable (usually around 80-100 and reaching a high point of about 150). By example, Miami-Dade has around 3,600 homeless. Of the 64 most chronically homeless in our City since 2015, 56% have been arrested for violent crimes. Separately, of the 208 people relocated by the City last fiscal year 44% had prior violent arrests, and 81% were already homeless, before coming to our City.  We spend millions on providing resources for the homeless via efforts by our Housing & Community Services Department and our police. That includes paying for beds in emergency shelters around Miami-Dade County - we are one of the few cities that does so. We also offer services such as a walk-in center and homeless employment program, and offer relocation services to house the homeless with relatives or loved ones who agree to take them in.   That said, a significant number of our homeless population actively reject shelter placement, choosing to live on the street and engage in criminal behavior. If you see someone homeless in possible need of assistance call 305-673-7941; similarly, if you observe someone in our parks after they have closed, it is appropriate to contact the police at the non-emergency number, 305-673-7901.

Resident Efforts: We are fortunate to have numerous private citizens who volunteer to help make our City more secure. Many residents participate in our Citizens Police Academy where they learn about neighborhood policing and how to help involve residents in enhancing safety. You can find out about our Citizens Police Academy here. Also, we have been lucky to have a group of dedicated and effective residents organized on Facebook as Miami Beach Crime Prevention & Awareness. Their focus is on tracking and highlighting for police and the courts the handful of predatory recidivists who try to make a living preying on mostly visitors in the Entertainment District.

Some New Initiatives

Captain Mildred "Mimi" Pfrogner Community Affairs Unit Captain Mimi Pfrogner is a third generation Law Enforcement Officer and a North Beach resident, and is active in our Beach community. Capt. Pfrogner received her Bachelor of Science from Barry University in Criminal Justice and is involved in Police Athletic League Boy Scout Troop #65 and leads the City's Young Women in Command Summer Camp. 305-673-7776 ext. 25032

Enhanced Community Policing: I am a big promoter of community policing so I’m excited that Chief Clements is expanding on existing community policing concepts with a new Community Affairs Unit.  This unit is the consolidation of every point of contact our Department has with the public, including the Homeless Resource Officers, School Resource Officers, and Neighborhood Resource Officers. Captain Pfrogner is a longtime Beach resident who was an excellent choice to lead this unit. We also have new Area Captains who are eager to better engage with residents at the grassroots level. Part of that includes a renewed emphasis on Park and Walk, where, for example, an officer patrolling 41st street will park his or her vehicle in a high visibility area, then canvass a set distance on foot to engage with the community before returning to the vehicle to move on and repeat the process. Finally, our police are committed to enhancing communication plans that better educate the public and provide more points of contact. Our Chief and Deputy Chief are focused on making sure every resident knows who to reach out to and how to contact them with questions about their local corner of our community. Click here for the October Update from the Community Affairs Unit with a report on how they are working proactively to improve quality of life and better engage with residents and the public.

During a breaking news incident, MBPD delivers real-time updates via their Twitter account: @MiamiBeachPD. Click that hyperlink to view their account and keep up with our police.

Captain Marlen Rivero, Area 1 (South Beach) 305-673-7776 ext. 25741

Captain Ian Robinson, Area 2 (Mid Beach)