LTC 099-2018 Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Statistics for Crime inI W, 1 At"A � B E A C H
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
No. LTC#
099-2018
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City .ommission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: February 23, 2018
SUBJECT: Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Statistics for Crime in Miami Beach in 2017
This Letter to Commission is prepared to inform the Commission of the official Uniform
Crime Report (UCR) statistics for crime in Miami Beach in 2017.
The UCR data (attached) is the official data collected nationally on crime. It is the only
way to compare an individual city's record over time on crime or one city's crime to
another's. Each city reports its data to the state, which in turn reports it to the FBI.
UCR data consists of seven major index (or Part 1) crimes. They are homicide, rape,
robbery and aggravated assault (i.e., the violent crimes) and burglary, larceny and auto
theft (i.e., the property crimes). The definitions of some of these crimes differ in how they
are counted by the FBI and by Florida under our state statutes. Therefore, the Police
Department reports our crime to the State of Florida this time of year. Our reported
crimes are validated by the State, adjusted to be made consistent with the FBI UCR
definitions, and then forwarded to the FBI. The FBI releases an official report for all
participating cities for the prior year each June.
Attached are the final official crime numbers that the Police Department has submitted
for 2017. 1 am pleased to report that Miami Beach had a 9.49 percent reduction in UCR
major index crime last year, with a 5.96 percent reduction in violent crime and a 9.88
percent reduction in property crime.
I attribute the success in 2017 to many factors, starting with the excellent work of the
men and women of the Police Department and the support they receive every day from
our city leadership and community. Here are some additional, specific factors the Police
Chief believes were particularly important to this past year's success:
• MBPD Officers made 13 percent more arrests in 2017
• Self -initiated calls for service by our officers increased by 20 percent, with much of
this increased activity focused on the Entertainment District.
• MBPD further refined its crime strategy meetings and approach, becoming still
more effective at directing resources toward hot spots and known repeat
offenders
• MBPD's Homeless Liaison Unit was particularly effective in addressing certain
areas that presented chronic, troublesome crime and quality -of -life problems
• The Department expanded its beat officer efforts in Mid -Beach, particularly in the
beach walk/boardwalk area and along the 41St Street corridor
• The Department deployed extensive resources to Ocean Drive, Lummus Park and
Entertainment District, including the regular use of the Overlap Shift on Ocean
Drive on weekend evenings
• Patrol teams with mobile license plate readers were regularly deployed along the
5t" Street corridor/MacArthur Causeway entrance to the city and other select
areas on high-volume weekends
• DUI Arrests increased by 23 percent
• The Department was increasingly effective at using fixed license plate readers
and surveillance cameras to intercede to prevent crime or to promptly catch
suspects afterward
• Community policing/problem solving efforts in general, across the city, were
particularly successful in 2017, with effective partnerships between the Area
Police Captains, their teams and neighborhood and community leaders
The Police Chief and I also believe that the vigilance and advocacy of the Facebook
group known as "Miami Beach Crime Prevention and Awareness," newly established in
2017, made a significant contribution to our overall crime reduction in 2017. This group
has been particularly successful in alerting the Police Department to suspicious activity
and to the location of wanted suspects. The group has also engaged in very effective
courtroom advocacy that has resulted in the setting of higher bonds, more jail time and
stay -away orders for chronic offenders.
Miami Beach Crime Prevention and Awareness started their advocacy in September.
Among the persons this group has focused on, as of today's writing approximately 30
persons who were chronic offenders in the Entertainment District, particularly along
Ocean Drive and Lummus Park, are either convicted and sentenced to jail, in jail
awaiting trial, in some form of institutionalized treatment, or subject to court -imposed
stay -away orders from all or a portion of the city. Because many of these individuals
were frequent, even prolific in committing crimes, their absence from Miami Beach is
almost certainly a factor in the City's overall crime decline. There is evidence that some
of these chronic offenders have even left the City for good.
JLM:DJO:tr
Attachment
MIAAAlBEACH
75�.777,
RECORDS UNIT SNAPSHOT
2016 vs 2017 COMPARISION
PERIOD COVERED: JANUARY 1- DECEMBER 31
% CHANGE 2017
HOMICIDE
-42.86%
4
RAPE
77.19%
101
ROBBERY
-10.72%
308
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
-11.30%
471
TOTAL VIOLENT
-5.96%
884
% CHANGE
2017
BURGLARY
17.08%
706
LARCENY
-11.31%
6,431
AUTO THEFT
-20.35%
450
TOTAL NON VIOLENT
-9.88%
7,587
2016
7
57
345
531
940
2016
603
7,251
565
8,419
TOTAL PART I
2016 9,359
2017 8,471
-9.49