LTC 305-2016 New Homeless Initiative MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 305-2016 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Philip Levine ana Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: July 19, 2016
SUBJECT: New Homeless Initiative; Police Department Petitions for Involuntary
Assessment and Mandated Treatment
This Letter to the City Commission is prepared to provide information on the Police Department's
newest initiative to deal with some of the most challenged and chronically homeless individuals in the
City. The effort involves a petition process and court-ordered treatment for a segment of the homeless
population suffering from life-threatening alcohol addiction.
Several months ago our Police Department, via its twice-monthly Homeless Solutions Meetings
identified, a small group of homeless individuals who reside on our City's streets and are severely
dependent on alcohol. These individuals have been found in various stages of poor and ever-
deteriorating health as a result of their chemical dependency on alcohol. They have been arrested
many times and always returned to the streets. They have consistently refused the city's offer of
shelter and social services.
The Police Department and Fire Department would frequently receive calls about these individuals for
medical events and/or nuisance-related crimes that they were involved in,thus unnecessarily tying up
valuable resources.As a result of these calls for service,these individuals were repeatedly committed
by our police officers to local hospitals for chemical dependency under the Marchman Act. We
experienced a revolving door with the local medical system, where the patients would be triaged,
evaluated and treated for any immediate medical issues,only to be quickly released.The root cause of
their problems — total alcohol/chemical dependency — would not be addressed. Their health would
continue to deteriorate. The tying up of police and fire resources would continue, and their presence
on our streets would remain an eyesore and challenge for our community.
The Police Department recognized that without acute clinical care,these individuals would eventually
die on our streets. Members of the Department attended a valuable training class where the Miami-
Dade State Attorney's Office presented the steps to have an individual involuntary committed for
treatment of his/her addiction. After this class, our team of Homeless Resource Officers and
Neighborhood Resource Officers were determined to explore the mandatory treatment route through
ex parte petitions made to the courts. They gathered the required forms, established an action plan,
and created a plan for each of the most notorious alcohol-dependent, chronically homeless persons
whose health they had observed to be drastically deteriorating over the years.
In the past two months, our officers have collected comprehensive records and compelling photos
documenting the obvious health deterioration of five individuals and made their first ex parte petitions
to the court, requesting mandatory 60-day evaluation and medical treatment. In each case, the Police
Department had previously arrested the selected subjects many times. The Magistrate sided with the
Police Department and ordered these individuals in for treatment and stabilization.
As of now, we are happy to report that the first five of these individuals are in some stage of the
treatment process to get them the help they need. The Department has established a close
relationship with all of the staff involved at the courts. This has helped to quickly facilitate what is
usually a long process. It is hoped that in the coming months,these individuals will achieve some kind
of long-term resolution of their chemical dependency and housing needs.
Our Police Department is the first in Miami-Dade County to pursue this ex parte petition process. The
standard for court-ordered mandatory 60-day evaluation and treatment will likely remain very high. So
this is not a solution for other than the most chronically homeless and severely alcohol dependent
persons. However, it is a significant new tool for the Police Department and the City in certain severe
cases. Other local police agencies have heard about our efforts and expressed interest in duplicating
our approach in their jurisdictions.
JLM:D O:IR:tr