The transfer of prisoners from the custody of the Miami Beach Police Department (“MBPD”) to that of the Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Department located at TGK, 7400 NW 41st Street, is an essential component of the arrest process. However, this transfer of custody can lead to MBPD officers being diverted for excessive periods of time while prisoners are being processed for acceptance at TGK. This procedure keeps officers off the street and away from other important duties.
MBPD police and detention officers are subject to a variety of unpredictable conditions in the process of transporting detainees and ultimately transferring custody to the Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Department at TGK. At the onset, the estimated travel time on a one-way commute to TGK from the MBPD holding facility with no delays or detours is approximately thirty (30) minutes. This may depend upon traffic conditions, time of day, and day of the week. More often, the roadway leading into the sallyport typically has a line of law enforcement vehicles transporting arrestees waiting to enter the secured location. This queuing can be caused by a variety of issues and/or emergencies within the jail. The entry time into the sallyport area can range anywhere from thirty (30) minutes to two (2) hours at any given time.
Additionally, the procedural process of receiving and transferring custody of prisoners to the Department of Corrections can cause unintentional delays beyond the control of the jail and its current staff. In brief, every prisoner being processed must be fingerprinted and their demographic information obtained. Then, every prisoner must be medically screened by a Licensed Practical Nurse assigned to the jail before proceeding to the booking location where they are issued a “jail number” among other procedures. Lastly, any money that belongs to the prisoner must be processed and deposited into a designated ATM machine within the jail.
The intake process can be interrupted at any time by a slew of unpredictable conditions to include medical emergencies, assaults on correctional staff, and disposition and behavior of prisoners waiting to be processed among multiple other factors.
Note that at the May 15, 2024 City Commission meeting, at the request of Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt, the Mayor and City Commission referred a discussion item (C4 X) to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee to discuss the hiring of additional MBPD detention officers as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget process.