LTC 327-2024 Baker Act Case Report BreakdownMIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC#
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
LETTER TO COMMISSION
Honorable Mayor Steven Meiner and Members of the City Commission
Eric Carpenter,City Managerfl:;.~
July 31,2024
Baker Act Case Report Breakdown
The purpose of this Letter to Commission (LTC)is to provide information regarding receiving
facilities for individuals committed for care under the Baker Act.This LTC is provided pursuant to
the request stemming from the May 22,2024 meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood
Quality of Life Committee ("PSNQLC")to understand the number of Baker Acts carried out by the
Miami Beach Police Department ("MBPD")over the last three years to date and how many are
repeat offenders.
Police officers who make the determination that a patient is a danger to themselves or others or
via abuse or neglect are a danger to themselves due to an altered mental state may be
involuntarily Baker Acted in accordance with Florida Statute 394. In addition,if a police officer
believes that because of a patient's addiction or abuse of substances (legal or illegal)and is a
danger to themselves they can be involuntarily committed under the Marchman Act in
accordance with Florida Statute 397.
Once a decision is made to transport a patient for treatment,officers transport them to the
nearest or most appropriate facility.These facilities include Citrus for juveniles in Hialeah,Mount
Sinai for adults and geriatric patients,Jackson Hospital for Marchman Acts both for juveniles and
adults. In some situations,a crisis response team can be summoned to a location.If the team
can respond within a reasonable period,they will take over the call and may transport a patient
to a facility.
Because Miami Beach is a smaller community,police officers frequently encounter and Baker
Act/Marchman Act some of the same patients multiple times over the course of a year.Some of
these repeat patients identify as homeless and others have places to live.Below is a breakdown
of the most recent Baker Act numbers:
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327-2024
Total number of Baker Act Case Reports (2021-2024):3,735
Baker Act Case Reports per year (2021-2024)
2021 2022 2023 2024
1162 1120 1030 423
Number of individuals Baker Acted more than once each year (2021-2024)
2021 2022 2023 2024
144 153 141 52
Number of individuals Baker Acted more than twice each year (2021-2024)
2021 2022 2023 2024
48 54 42 7
EC/WJ/ir/cmrp
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