A policing unit for a possible city in southwestern Kendall in District 11 to serve an estimated 78,747 residents would cost $13-15 million annually, according to a Miami-Dade Police Department study.
Recommendations and dollar estimates for policing the area were presented by MDPD Lt. Suzanne Lauton of the Strategic Planning and Development Section to the West End South MAC (Municipal Advisory Committee) during its first 2016 session on Jan. 19.
Potential policing costs focused on the incorporation study area bounded on the north by SW 88th St. and south by SW 152nd Street between Florida’s Turnpike and Krome (177th) Avenue, with the addition of a District 7 section extending west to SW 122nd Avenue north of SW 104th Street.
The proposed city of 23 square miles currently is part of the West End Police District that serves 329,656 residents from SW Eighth Street south to the Monroe County line, including farming areas covered by an Agricultural Patrol Unit.
Of special interest among the analysis: A three-year report on service calls within the study area shows a steadily reducing crime rate, from 27,038 service calls in 2013 to 26,013 in 2014, to 25,176 in 2015.
In 2015, a similar study for a 27-square-mile area in District 11 was prepared for a West End North MAC study still underway. It put comparable staffing at $18-19 million for 128,874 residents from SW Eighth Street south to SW 88th Street between Florida’s Turnpike and Krome Avenue, except for a portion east of SW 147th Avenue in District 10.
The MDPD staffing recommendation for a southwest Kendall city is partly based on 25,176 service calls during 2015 or 27 percent of the 94,890 total answered by the West District force last year. Policing recommendations:
• $13,628,326 for a minimum staff of 80 sworn officers and 10 non-sworn administrative personnel, including $1,233,305 for contract services;
• $15,112,570 for enhanced staffing of 89 officers and 10 administrators, $1,367,622 for contract services that would include a crime suppression team and neighborhood resource units.
Both forces would need 66 marked vehicles, the largest single expense estimated at $560,340 with an additional 14 unmarked vehicles ($91,728) for minimal staffing, 22 vehicles ($144,144) for enhanced programming.
Separate contracts would be needed for minimal and enhanced policing would provide personnel management, fiscal administration, public safety training, compliance bureau services, facilities maintenance and equipment (radio system, officer equipment, etc.).
Countywide, MDPD is budgeted for 2,864 sworn positions with 155 under five-year contracts in the Town of Miami Lakes, Village of Palmetto Bay and Town of Cutler Bay for support services.
As explained to the South MAC committee, countywide taxes would fund specialized police services for robberies, sexual and domestic crimes, homicides, narcotics and economic crimes, etc., with local policing responding to emergency or non-emergency calls, crime prevention, patrolling, arresting offenders and traffic law enforcement.
Optional services could include marine and motorcycle patrols, special events unit, drug abuse education and school crossing guards.
Prior to the policing presentation, the South MAC committee heard presentations on public works, waste management, environmental resources and public roads, learning that the projected lifetime of a typical roadway is 30 years before considered for milling and resurfacing.
The committee’s next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., at the West End Regional Library, 10201 Hammocks Blvd. For details, visit
miamidade.gov/incorporationandan-nexation/west-kendall-section-3.asp.
