The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) South District Police Station hosted a community event on Feb. 16 called “Movie with a Cop.”
Located in Cutler Bay near the South Dade Government Center, Regional Library and Cultural Arts Center, the free event attracted children of all ages and their parents from the surrounding community to see the movie Spiderman 3 and enjoy other activities.
“There’ll be music until the movie starts,” said MDPD Officer Sabata Davidson-Bryant, who with a few dozen other police officers, was setting up things. “Besides the movie we have bounce houses, beanbag toss games and some organization booths.”
Sponsoring the event were Miami-Dade County Commissioners Dennis C. Moss and Daniella Levine Cava; Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department; Greater Goulds Optimist Club; Olive Gardenl Subwayl Pollo Tropical, and Flagship Cinema.
“Officer Eddie Smith put this all together,” said Officer Wanda Dallas, who was also a coordinator and explained about the sponsors. “The Miami-Dade Police Explorers are participating as well.”
Supervising the Explorers, who are 14- to 17-year-olds enrolled in the program to learn more about police work, were Officers King, Marrero and Rodriguez.
“They work with us all the time,” Officer Rodriguez said. “They come and assist with community events like this one and do other community service work.”
At the Department of Corrections booth were Officers Flag, Brown and Sneed, who offered interested parents the service of fingerprinting youngsters using special cards.
“We explain to the parents that we don’t keep the fingerprints on file,” Officer Sneed said. “We give the filled out cards with their child’s fingerprints to the parents and advise them to put them in a safe place, maybe with their birth certificate and current photos, just in case their child ever goes missing.”
Other booths providing information and brochures were the Crime Stoppers organization, manned by Lt. Alexander Rice and executive director Suzette Rice, as well as CHI Community Health, with Akeemia Riley, Wanda Rivera and Wanda Walker.
“It’s a great opportunity for neighbors to get to know each other and our local police who work to keep our community safe and peaceful,” Commissioner Levine-Cava said.
Commissioner Moss agreed and was appreciative of the other sponsors.
“Movie with a Cop is a great time to connect with residents and enjoy an evening of family entertainment that South-Dade has come to be known for,” Commissioner Moss said.
