LTC 237-2009 Middle District Residential Burglary Update~FC;F=!~ri=i
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OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER C I T ~• '.. L .: •' :': li r ~ i, r_
NO. LTC # 237-2009 LET1-ER TO COMMISSION
TO, M or Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
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FROM rge . ~onzale-#J`t~y Manager
DATE: September 14, 2009
SUBJECT- Middle District Residential Burglary Update
This Letter to Commission (LTC) serves to provide an update nn the Police Departrnenfs efforts to
combat a spike in burglaries earlier in the year at residential properties in the Middle District.
Following Memorial Day Weekend, a comprehensive task force (Aomentum II) was created utilizing a
combination of undercover detectives and street patrol officers to address the mid-beach burglaries.
This Momentum II task force greatly reduced the amount of residential related criminal activity in that
area for the period ranging from Memorial Day through the present. In the target area (3U`° Street to
63'" Street, east of the Waterway and Flamingo Drive) the following residential burglaries were
reported:
Pre~Momentum II Task Force DuringlPost Momentum II Task Force
T Residential Burglaries in February 0 Residential Burglaries in MayaNer Memorial Day
Weekend
16 Residential Burglaries in March_ 2 Re-sidential Burglaries in June
11 Residential Burglar_i_es in A_ ril 1 Resident al B_urclary in July
2 Res,der.tial Burglaries in August (1 was a
trespass-Baker Act and 1 was a waterway attempt
i with subjects arrested)
This effort ultimately led to an arrest in July of an individual who we believe was responsible for
coordinating most of the raid-beach burglaries from at least March through Memorial Day weekend,
and he was also responsible for several other burglaries in the City of Coral Gables. Prior to that, an
arrest was also made in June of a subject who is connected Io multiple mid-Beach burglaries via
fingerprints. Subsequent to litese significant arrests. there has been a marked decrease in the
amount of Middle District residential burglaries.
It should be noted that the primary activity assoGated smith any resic!ential criminal activity while the
task force was in place involved primarily a few burglaries or attempted burglaries involved mainly
with property located on the cartilage of homes. Additionally, in July there was one home invasion
robbery in mid-beach, (with suspicious circumstances), involving an apartment in the area of 45''
Street and Royal Palm Avenue.
Detectives will continue to monitor any Middle District burglary xtivity and remain proactive in their
efforts to curb these crimes. They will also continue to work closely with other law enforcement
agencies to coordinate the prosecution of hurglarycases involving mu0iplejurisdictionsarid develop
all possible investigative leads on open cases.
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