LTC 262-2008 Recent SunPost Articlem MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
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2Q08 OCT 14 AM 10~ 54
NO. LTC # 262-Zoos LETTER ~~~~~~~~
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: October 13, 2008
SUBJECT: Recent Sun Post Article
This Letter to the Commission is in response to a recent Sun Post cover story article printed
in the September 18th, 2008 circulation, which was titled 'Blood Beach'. The article in
question looks at the number of homicides in Miami Beach for 2008, implying that the
murder rate in our City this year is reaching a record number for this decade. It should be
noted that there have been six (6) homicides in the City of Miami Beach during the first three
quarters of the 2008 calendar year. Should that statistical trend continue, the total projected
number at the end of the year would be eight (8). If so, that number would equal the number
of homicides in 2004. If we do not see another homicide in our City this year, we will, of
course, have less than the total in 2004, less than the total in 2002 (seven), and have an
equal numberwith the totals in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The below numbers reflect the
homicides for the City of Miami Beach each year since 2000:
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Number of
Homicides
3
6
7
6
8
4
3
4
*6
'` through October 7, 2008
For the record, four of the six homicides in 2008 have been cleared by arrest and one was
exceptionally cleared when the subject took his own life moments after committing the
homicide. The subject in the sixth and most recent homicide has been identified and a
warrant has been issued for his arrest. Four of the six homicides involved disputes between
subjects who knew each other and another occurred during the commission of a crime
(shoplifting). Three of the six homicides involved subjects who had recently arrived and/or
were passing through our City.
It goes without saying that the Miami Beach Police Department is very cognizant of this issue
and continues to focus their efforts on reducing homicides, as well as, all other categories of
violent crime. It should be noted that all categories of violent crime tracked for annual
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), with the one exception of homicides, are down for 2008
versus 2007. This would be a continuation of a reduction in violent crime recorded in 2007,
making Miami Beach one of the few cities in Miami-Dade County with a decrease in that
specific crime category.
JMG:CN:tr