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By: Kristen Rosen Gonzalez
No one appreciates being hoodwinked—especially by the leaders elected to represent them. That’s why I’m writing to share the truth about the state of Miami Beach’s public safety.
In complete contrast to the slanted narrative from the Miami Beach Mayor’s office, here is a factual picture of public safety on Miami Beach.
Let’s start with crime.
While non-violent crimes such as theft, burglary, auto theft, and vehicle break-ins are down in Miami Beach, and I celebrate this, violent crime is up in Miami Beach 2025—at a time when it’s decreasing across Miami-Dade County and even nationally.
According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association:
- In the City of Miami, aggravated assaults are down by 16%.
- In Miami Beach, aggravated assaults are up by 9.7% in 2025.
- Sexual assault is down 50% in the City of Miami. But in Miami Beach, we’ve already had 50 sexual assaults year-to-date, the same amount last year, year-to-date, so we are flat on sexual assaults–no improvement
This is not a failure of our police department, but rather, misguided policy.
Over the last year and a half, our Mayor—who is not a policing expert—has micromanaged our department, lowered morale, and imposed politically driven policies that have made their jobs harder. He has also fought with the Miami Dade County Board of County Commissioners and the Homeless Trust, and these failures in political diplomacy have left Miami Beach adrift on its own, when the only solution to solving our problems is to work with our county elected officials and focus on the root of our public safety problem—Miami Beach’s homeless population.
According to the Miami Beach Police Department, Miami Beach’s homeless population commits nearly 50% of all crimes.
Miami Beach has a “camping ordinance” which allows the police, after offering a bus ticket to reunite with family, or a shelter bed, to arrest homeless on the street. But here is what happens.
Miami Beach arrests the homeless, spends millions of taxpayer dollars on a Miami Beach municipal prosecution team that cuts a ”plea deal” with our judicial system for “time served”—and this deceivingly counts as a successful conviction, and after one day in jail, homeless individuals are released back onto Miami Beach streets.
The result of this initiative is a revolving door: Miami Beach, jail, court, and back to Miami Beach. This is a waste of Miami Beach and Miami Dade county tax dollars, and worse, it does nothing to solve the problem. Anyone who touts wasting money to brag about 95% percent conviction rate when it does not solve any problem is simply deceiving the public.
What Miami Beach needs is a place to send the homeless that is not a jail! This is why I sponsored and passed a resolution to allocate our Miami Beach’s dollars for the Homeless Trust to the successful opening and operation of the “Leifman Center”, or the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery.
The Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery is a homeless facility in Miami, slated to open late 2025. The center will provide a comprehensive solution for the homeless, with services for mental health, doctors, dentists, tattoo removal, education, financial counseling, and eventually, successful reintegration into society. There is even a courthouse inside of the center, so doctors do not have to travel if they need to “Baker Act” a homeless individual to keep them on medications they need.
The only real solution to make Miami Beach safer for both residents and tourists, is to:
- Work effectively with experienced professionals in our police department
- Repair our relationship with the Miami Dade County Commission and the Homeless Trust so we can actively participate in the success of the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery
Let’s build a Miami Beach that focuses on real solutions—safely, sustainably, and successfully.

Kristen Rosen Gonzalez