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Political leaders are burdened with a wide array of critical issues, ranging from economic development, to protecting natural resources, and empowering the next generation through education. However, nothing is more paramount than protecting the safety and wellbeing of our residents. The City of Miami has grown quickly in recent years, both in population as well as finances. But with this growth comes growing pains, chief among them unacceptable increases in crime rates. If people don’t feel safe, all other gains across small business prosperity, beautification and tourism will quickly wane.
Just this past Christmas Eve, a time that should have been filled with familial joy, we suffered from a fatal shooting in West Grove. More than 30 bullets flew, and a man lost his life. Unfortunately, this tragic incident was not an anomaly, but rather a microcosm of our increasingly dangerous City streets.
Eight years ago, the City of Miami was able to recruit and retain enough qualified candidates to hit a goal of three police officers per thousand, the highest police-to-citizen ratio in our history. Today, the Police Department has struggled in recruiting qualified candidates for more than 80 open positions. It was recently reported that we failed to find one qualified recruit in 5,000 applicants, leaving dozens of open positions despite the budget approval to absorb the requisite costs. Simply put, this is unacceptable. Here are some ways we might collectively address this dire situation:
- Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant – there may be valid reasons for dipping significantly below our highwater mark of three Officers per thousand, but those reasons need to be aired, debated and resolved. Rather than focus only on our successes, we must shine a bright light on our problems as a first step towards fixing them.
- Broaden our Search – the City of Miami boasts a comparatively large budget and has approved fair wages for these 80 empty positions. We should get the wheels of government moving towards promoting, recruiting and hiring from other cities and municipalities where police officers are leaving jobs earlier than expected. Governor DeSantis recently signed into law a signing bonuses for departing police to relocate to Florida. We should build on that and offer additional incentives.
- Presence Matters – eight years ago there was a police substation on Grand Ave, bringing much-needed Community Policing to the Grove. That substation was lost due to lack of support from the previous District 2 Commissioner. We should immediately revisit the creation of smaller hubs that discourage crime and bring closer proximity between police and the communities they serve.
Crime in District 2 has been trending the wrong direction for the past two years. We have absorbed a great many new residents post-pandemic, but despite Miami’s growing population, its Police Department has not. This unacceptable state of affairs must stop now, and we should explore creative solutions to protect our most valuable resource.
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