ANALYSIS:
Item 1: Develop the scope of a proposed study of policing issues in the City.
The Police Department’s assessment is that if the City were to fund a study by an independent expert of issues associated with crime and perception of crime in Miami Beach, such a study could potentially be very time consuming and expensive. This is because the factors that impact crime and the perception of crime are complex, varied and inter-related in ways that are not easily discerned without detailed analysis by experts. Crime data, trends and causes are particularly difficult to dissect and the perception-versus-reality of crime even more difficult to measure.
One way to reasonably limit the scope (and cost) of such an effort would be to limit the area of the City to be studied. In most areas of the city, when a crime problem (or perception of crime) develops, the MBPD is flexible enough with resources to address the issue quickly (e.g. most recently in the North Bay Road area). However, the one area of the city that is consistently the topic of public discourse and social and mainstream media attention about crime is the Entertainment District. So if a study is to be conducted, this is the area the Police Department recommends be studied.
The scope of the study should include the following:
- An evaluation of data and crime trends over time – starting with perhaps a minimum of the past 10 years.
- An evaluation of MBPD staffing and resources provided over time.
- An evaluation of impact of social media and mainstream media on perceptions of crime.
- An evaluation of the criminal justice system’s effectiveness at handling arrests made in the MXE, including an in-depth analysis of arrests for quality-of-life offenses and lower-level property crimes such as beach thefts.
- An evaluation of the homeless situation in the MXE and its impact on crime and perception of crime, including an evaluation of whether current city-driven methods to deal with homelessness are effective or can be improved. Included in this analysis should be an evaluation of the impact of package store liquor sales on homelessness and related quality-of-life and disorder issues.
- An evaluation of the impact of noise, traffic and congestion on behavior, crime and perceptions of disorder in the MXE. This should include whether traffic pattern changes on Ocean Drive (e.g., one-way only, elimination of parking, café/sidewalk expansion, pedestrian mall/street closure, etc.) would impact these issues.
- An evaluation of the history, deployment, challenges and effectiveness of the off-duty police program on Ocean Drive and in the larger MXE.
In addition, in response to the NCAC’s most recent inquiries, the Police Department developed data on arrests for quality-of-life offenses comparing 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 YTD (attached). Also attached is statistical data on the impact of the Police Department’s many initiatives to address Part 1 (UCR) crime in the Ocean Drive area between 2014 and 2017.
Convening a focus group or series of focus groups to obtain community insight and ideas, as discussed in earlier submissions to the Committee, also remains an option but would likely be expensive to do properly.
Item 2: Propose questions to be added to the City’s bi-annual survey
The next resident survey to evaluate the success of city services will be taken this Fall. The questions in the 2016 resident survey conducted by the ETC Institute are attached. After reviewing these questions, the Police Department has no recommendations for additional questions at this time and would prefer, along with the Communications Department, to take input on suggested additions or changes from the Committee at its next meeting. A notable change with this year’s survey is that once complete, the 2018 survey results have the potential to be displayed in a performance dashboard, allowing the administration and City officials to analyze satisfaction with services per neighborhood and correlations between responses and demographic data. City staff is conducting market research for the potential purchase of the dashboard, and estimates the cost to be near $16,000 annually.
Item 3: Come up with some positive education programming, using the Police Department’s data, so that positive messaging can be imparted to the public.
The Police Department is working with the Communications Department on new messaging in this regard. Both the MBPD and the Communications Department are very active in all realms of social media in delivering anti-crime messaging and touting success stories. This effort will continue to be a high priority and will expand as needed. Attached is a recent example, an article just published in Miami Beach Magazine, entitled “Safety First: The Low Down on Crime.” This is one example of the kind of efforts underway. Another is an article just published in a Chamber-sponsored publication (attached) about a special new MBPD initiative with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Communications Department and MBPD intend to highlight these kinds of successes in all forms of media as they occur.
The Department has a new e-newsletter and is now using the “Next Door” social media application for passing on information to neighborhood groups. The Department is even about to begin piloting the networking of neighborhood video cameras to generate communal efforts among homeowners with police to fight crime.
In a new effort, the Communications Department will assist the Command Staff in meeting with small groups of police officers over the next few months to better explore specific ways to effectively communicate with neighborhoods and key community leaders about our crime-reduction efforts and successes.
Item 4: Assign someone to attend the impacted community groups that were identified by the Committee. (i.e., North Bay Road, Entertainment, South of 5th, Ocean Drive)
This is already standard operating procedure and has been for many years as part of the Department’s ongoing community policing efforts. The MBPD’s four Area Captains, their Neighborhood Resource Officers (NROs) and all members of the Command Staff routinely attend neighborhood and community group meetings throughout the city. At these meetings, there is always an emphasis on presenting current crime data, trends and crime-prevention and safety resources.
Each of the four captains was asked to prepare a short summary of their current efforts in this regard. Their summaries are as follows:
From: Captain David De La Espriella, Area 1:
In keeping with our commitment to Community Policing, Captain De La Espriella, the Area one (1) Commander, along with Officer Deborah Martineau, the Area one (1) Neighborhood Resource Officer, maintain constant communication with key members of area one (1) in an effort to address identified crime problems and quality of life issues. As part of that commitment, they attend monthly meetings where any issues raised are addressed and, if needed, followed up and reported on at subsequent meetings. The following monthly meetings are attended:
- South of 5th Neighborhood Association (SOFNA)
- West Avenue Neighborhood Association (WAVNA)
- Collins Park Neighborhood Association (CPNA)
In addition to these general monthly association meetings, a strong relationship has been formed with other groups with the intended goal of working together to address and solve problems. Marie Peters, Chair of the SOFNA Safety Committee, constantly communicates with Captain De Le Espriella and works closely with our department for the betterment of the SOFNA neighborhood. The President of the Palm/Hibiscus/Star Island HOA, Pierre de Agostini, also communicates with Captain De La Espriella, as needed, whenever issues arise in that neighborhood.
Acknowledging that some issues cross HOA boundaries, Captain De La Espriella has created a “President’s Council” where once a quarter, he hosts a meeting of all the Presidents of the HOA’s in area one (1) to discuss any larger, area-wide problems. By bringing all of the HOA leaders together, a more comprehensive discussion and collaboration can take place. These meetings are an opportunity for those leaders to discuss and understand the resource deployment for the area in general. It is also an opportunity for those leaders to hear what is going on in other parts of the city.
From Captain Mimi Pfrogner, Area 2:
Middle Beach covers the general area from 23rd to 63rd Street on Miami Beach. This includes the Venetian Islands, Sunset Islands, La Gorce Island and Allison Island. All four of these islands have active associations of which we attend meetings at least twice a year. There are 7 other Homeowners Associations which are active in Mid Beach. They are Pine Tree/La Gorce, Flamingo, Nautilus Area, Upper North Bay Road, Bay Shore (41st Street South neighborhood), Sunset Harbor and Mid Beach (Collins Corridor) Association. The Lakeview Area does not have an association but we are in touch with longstanding members of this community to address concerns upon request.
There are 2 Boardwalk Beat Units: Officer Pereira Mon-Fri 9a-3p and Officer Schultz Sun-Wed 3p-1a. We have one 41st Street Beat Unit Officer Cuellar Tues-Fri 7a-5p. Officer Hazzi is the NRO and works Mon-Thurs 7a-5p. Other community stakeholder meetings we attend at least twice a year include the synagogues, the Jewish Community Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, the 41st Street Business association, St. Patrick’s Church/School, Beach High PTA, Nautilus Middle School PTA and North Beach Elementary PTA. We have close relationships with HOA presidents and board members of various groups and make frequent contact with them outside of regular meetings.
Our closest and most active relationships in Mid Beach tend to exist within the Jewish Community, Venetian Islands, Sunset Harbor, and North Bay Road. This past years’ contact has consisted of traffic and boardwalk concerns with the Mid Beach (Collins) associations; burglary, speeding, LPR and camera concerns with the North Bay Road association; noise reduction efforts with the Sunset Harbor association; traffic and suspicious person concerns with the Venetian community; footbridge traffic concerns with the Flamingo Drive community and safety and security concerns with all mentioned schools.
From Captain Henry Doce, Area 3:
I have a regular monthly meeting where I invite all of our HOA as well as residents to attend. During these meetings I typically discuss relevant issues in our North area. These gatherings are very productive and I routinely meet new residents who attend and join in on our efforts to address issues in the neighborhoods. I have personally given out my cell number and made sure that each resident has the opportunity to make a difference in their community by keeping me personally informed of any problems they take notice of. I also have quarterly events like the Relay for Life Bike Rides, Ride with the chief bike rides, Community Breakfast with officers, and Relay for life Community Car wash. NRO Blanco has also made a large impact by being the direct liaison to anyone wishing to alert us to any problems. I have added the North Walking Beats as an added resource to reach out to community business leaders who feel very close to the Walking Beat Cops. In our North area I have the following HOA who are very active:
- Bay Drive West HOA
- Stillwater Drive HOA
- Normandy Shores HOA
- Parkview Island HOA
- Ocean Terrace HOA
- Biscayne Pointe HOA
- Normandy Fountain HOA
- Normandy North HOA
- Biscayne Beach HOA
- Altos Del Mar HOA
- Normandy North HOA
- Normandy South HOA
- Normandy Center HOA
Captain Ian Robinson, Area 4/Entertainment District:
Within the Entertainment District I have one very active community association called the Ocean Drive Association (O.D.A.). Collins Avenue has no known organized association or community group that I am aware of that exists in the ED, although I do communicate with several of the larger property owners and managers on a regular basis. Washington Avenue is in the infancy stages of beginning an association or group of business owners led by a local attorney (Steve Polisar) whom I communicate often with. Thus far we have had two meetings with this still unnamed Washington Ave group, which my Washington Ave Beat Officers Nelson Cubides, Alain Rodriguez, and I attended.
There is also increasing interest and action led by Jeff Feldman, Mike Palma and others to begin a Business Improvement District (B.I.D.) that encompasses the area (5th to 23rd Street, Atlantic Ocean west to Washington Ave), in which most Miami Beach visitors are drawn to.
The O.D.A. meets monthly and I attend each meeting. Every day, I closely collaborate with Mike Palma (chairman of the ODA), Ceci Velasco (ODA Exec Director) and Mike DeFilippi (Nighttime ODA Manager) about issues on Ocean Drive and the feeder streets that lead to Ocean Drive. Within the past two weeks ODA leadership and I have met with the owners and managers of two problematic businesses along Ocean Drive to try to get them to alter their current business model. This is a constant work in progress. Right now we are going into week 5/12 of the TOPS (Tourist Oriented Policing Service) program. This is an off duty pilot program and will last until August 19th. This program involves a sergeant and four officers who specifically walk on the west sidewalk of the cabaret district (7-11 Streets) on Ocean Drive. The program operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and is in place to quell problems before they become problems as well as to significantly increase visibility on the west sidewalk of Ocean Drive. I also have an additional 12 officers (two of which are sergeants) who are specifically assigned to Ocean Drive at night. This group of officers is specifically assigned to Ocean Drive’s 10 blocks from 5-15 Streets. During their busy shifts they constantly interact with the ODA staff.