Crime Prevention & Safety

Reprinted from BHA News, Fall 1998
Security Seminar for Condo Management Personnel Rescheduled

The Security Seminar planned by BHA and the Miami Police and Fire Departments that was postponed due to preparation for Hurricane Georges in late September has been rescheduled for December 2nd at Brickell Place I.

This program, geared for management and security personnel from BHA member condominiums, will begin at 10 a.m. and last until 3 p.m. with lunch included. Coordinated by BHA Secretary Mac Seligman, the session will include information about crime and crime prevention, fire safety, emergency procedures and communications.

The police presentation will cover crimes against persons, car thefts, surveillance procedures and equipment, among other topics. The fire department presentation will cover evacuation plans, fire drills and fire inspections. Security procedures before, during and after natural disasters will addressed as well as communications between building security personnel, police and neighboring buildings.

The seminar will be timely as some Brickell condominiums are experiencing more crimes than in the past, including muggings and car thefts in recent weeks. The perpetrators, often teenagers traveling in groups of two or more kids, are gaining access to properties by scaling walls between properties and from the seawall, at times eluding security personnel.

"As Brickell becomes more populated and people venture out, there are going to be more opportunities for criminals to target the area," Miami City Manager and former Police Chief Donald Warshaw said.

With more commercial development, it's a natural consequence, he explained. It's the bad side of the good and bad equation of commercial growth.

The seminar will give building management the opportunity to get together and plan ways to communicate more effectively amongst each other for more effective prevention.

Reprinted from BHA News, Summer 1998
Security Conference Planned

The BHA, working with the Miami City Police and Fire Departments, is planning a Security Seminar on September 24, 1998, for management and security personnel from BHA member condominiums. Coordinated by BHA Secretary Mac Seligman, the session will include information about crime and fire safety, emergency procedures and communications.

Reprinted from BHA News, Winter 1997
Police Report: Brickell Area Gets More Coverage, Improved Communication Systems

More police officers are looking after Brickell residents under a new plan implemented by the City of Miami Police Department in early January.

Police coverage in the Brickell/Coral Way Neighborhood Enhancement Team (N.E.T.) zone increased by a third going from 22 total officers to 33as the result of a comprehensive study examining when and where crimes have occurred and scheduling patrols accordingly, Officer Jeffrey Giordano reported to the BHA.

"In the past there were three shifts of officers and now there are four, with coverage including a full-time bike patrol officer and three part-time bike patrols," Giordano said.

With the variety of new restaurants, buildings and shops opening in the Brickell area and more folks on the streets enjoying the new amenities, BHA directors and police have made it a goal to thwart potential new criminal types that might see the area as ripe for prey. So far, police have been successful in seeing new development come to the area without an increase in crime, but Giordano said the police will be keeping a watch especially as the restaurant business picks up in the evenings and on weekends.

SCANS: Building Security Guards Get Direct Link

In a move to strengthen communication between private building security forces and police, a new radio system is in place linking the two crime-fighting forces. The SCAN system enables condo and commercial building security guards who use radios to switch to a non-private channel in emergencies that is picked up by the police.

Police officers carry an additional radio so that when a guard encounters a crime in progress, he or she tunes to a frequency that goes directly to the police to let them know. With this new link, guards with criminal emergencies on their hands bypass the need to find a phone and go through a 911 operator. The overall goal of the system is to cut down response time for police to get to the scene of a crime in progress.

Non-emergency calls, such as a burglary that has already occurred, should go through the regular non-emergency police number.

The new system was recently started in buildings in the downtown and Brickell areas.

Reprinted from BHA News, Summer 1996
On the Beat: Tracking Brickell Police Coverage

The number of police officers assigned to patrol the Brickell/Coral Way area is targeted to double if all goes according to a new plan being tried in this area by the Miami Police Department, Lt. Manny Orosa reported.

"Simply put, we will have one officer per zone, per day," he said. "So instead of our current four per day, we should grow to eight per day, per shift."

With a number of new restaurants and other developments sprouting up in the Brickell area lately, BHA directors have stayed in close communication with Lt. Orosa, Officer Jeff Giordano, Chief Warshaw and other officers about police protection. Police are paying particular attention to increased visibility in our neighborhood so that they thwart thugs and robbers that might see an opportunity to prey on folks outdoors, going to restaurants and enjoying the new amenities.

One of the moves already in place is the addition of an overtime officer from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. patrolling South Miami Avenue, Brickell and South Bayshore from 8th Street to 25th Road, Lt. Orosa reported. During the daytime shift on weekdays, one officer rides a bike to patrol the area.

Under the new prototype plan starting in mid-August, officers will work in three shifts 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.; and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. with the same eight officers rotating in each shift. The officers will not be shifted to other neighborhoods but rather be dedicated to the Brickell/Coral Way area. With this plan, Brickell residents will get to know their officers and the officers will get to know residents, businesses and the area very well.

Reprinted from BHA News, Fall 1995
Point View Neighbors Hire Extra Police

Brickell Homeowner Association neighbors have taken matters into their own hands, dug into their pockets and hired extra police protection for themselves, their property and their neighborhood. Frustrated by a City of Miami Police force too stretched to consistently enforce laws and patrol their area, residents from 14th to 15th Road on South Bayshore Drive have employed off-duty police for key times on weekends.

A Convenient Haven

Tucked away on what should be a picturesque bayside drive, the "street was taken over by crime, drugs, and trash," said Nellie Zamora, a leader of the concerned Point View residents.

People without any respect for the neighborhood, the sidewalks or Biscayne Bay were treating the bayside walkway like their personal camping area and dumping ground, she explained. In addition, unscrupulous characters, known to come to the area looking for an opportunity for crime, were hard to distinguish from the legitimate fishermen and sightseers.

Although the neighbors obtained the proper signs prohibiting loitering, fishing and polluting, people ignored the signs, she said. Now officers, hired by residents of the five condo and co-op buildings, enforce the laws on certain nights and on weekends.

"Our street is now clean, you can walk down the sidewalks and avoid the fishing mess, knives and beer drinking," Zamora reported.

But trouble still comes around, usually in the form of random vandalism and theft, so residents would like to expand the coverage to 24 hours a day, an even more costly undertaking. They are also exploring the possibility of adding a gatehouse to control the criminal traffic in the area, but that too is expensive, even if the details can be worked out.

"We don't mind if people come and park to enjoy the street," Zamora said. "We just want to protect our neighborhood."

An Option for BHA?

BHA Directors considered whether hiring an off-duty police patrolman for around-the-clock coverage would be of benefit to its member residents. One patrolman 24 hours a day, 365 days a year would work out to about $3 per month per unit for all the BHA member units. However, even if affordable, the effectiveness of one officer for the considerably large area was questioned.

The BHA member area stretches for 10 blocks on Brickell, plus the condominiums on 15th and 25th Roads, plus Brickell Key. The officer would have a lot of territory to cover. In addition, if the officer apprehended an offender, he or she would have to take the perpetrator to the station for booking if no other units were available, leaving the area uncovered.

While BHA directors encouraged Point View's efforts, the solution did not seem workable for the Brickell Area. Many lamented the fact that residents are resorting to taxing themselves for needed services even though they already pay huge city and county taxes.