Miami-Dade County, Florida

Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation

Miami-Dade County, Florida

BCJI Funding Year: FY2018

BCJI Awardee: Miami-Dade County Office of Management and Budget

Research Partner: Justice and Security Strategies, Inc.

Focus Area: Miami-Dade South District 

Challenges: Violent Crime

Note: As of Fiscal Year 2020, the Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Grant has been renamed the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Grant. Grantee sites from Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 were onboarded under the CBCR name, while those from Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 were onboarded under the BCJI name. 

Neighborhood Characteristics

Situated in an unincorporated area of south Miami-Dade County (MDC), Miami-Dade South District (MDSD) contains neighborhoods continually plagued by violent crime. MDSD ranks second in the county’s unincorporated areas in violent crime. From 2015-2017, MDSD experienced 4,223 violent crimes. This represents nearly 25 percent of the total violent crime that occurred in unincorporated areas of the county (4,223 of 16,991 violent crimes). Of these, 63 were homicides.  

MDSD includes four census-designated places: Princeton, West Perrine, Naranja, and Goulds. Of the 49,904 residents who live in the area, 20% are under the age of 18, and 9.3 percent are persons over 65 years. Further, 38.1 percent of residents identify as Hispanic, 42 percent identify as African American, and 8.1 percent identify as Caucasian. The neighborhoods are stricken with a high poverty rate of 40 percent and an unemployment rate of 18.8 percent. 

Planning Phase

During the Planning Phase, project staff from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) worked closely with their research partner, Justice & Security Strategies (JSS). Led by Dr. Craig Uchida, residents and other community stakeholders reviewed the focus area map of MDSD, identified one specific micro-target area to address during the implementation phase, and developed a comprehensive crime-based strategy and action plan. The data-driven strategic action plan will include recommendations for strategies that offer a continuum of approaches to best address the specific crime problems overtime. 

Violence and social disorganization are complex issues that require multi-disciplinary solutions. Therefore, carefully defined strategies that pinpoint specific areas, specific people, and targeted solutions were developed throughout the planning phase. The primary objectives of Project PEACE – South Dade are to promote the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) program, increase mutual trust, and improve community safety as part of a comprehensive strategy to rebuild neighborhoods and spur revitalization. Strategies will be selected that support the following goals: 

  • Goal 1: Improve community safety through the reduction of violent crime. 

  • Goal 2: Build community awareness of crime issues and crime-based services, including crime prevention. 

  • Goal 3: Improve relations between residents and police. 

  • Goal 4: Enhance coordination and delivery of social and support services within the targeted project focus areas. 

Implementation Strategies

After conducting Planning Phase activities and data analysis, the site homed in on the following goals for its implementation strategy: 

  • Implementation Goal 1: Amplify community safety through the reduction of violent criminal activity. 

  • Implementation Goal 2: Enhance community awareness of crime issues and crime-based services, including crime prevention. 

  • Implementation Goal 3: Improve coordination and delivery of crime-based and social services within the targeted project focus areas. 

Further, the site also developed the following objectives to guide its implementation strategy: 

  • Implementation Objective 1: Identify crime drivers, crime-based initiatives, and services, as well as service gaps and needs within the Miami-Dade South District. 

  • Implementation Objective 2: Develop a coordinated and comprehensive crime-based strategic action plan that leverages community resources within the MDPD South District. 

  • Implementation Objective 3: Implement recommended crime-based strategies outlined in the strategic action plan that offers a continuum of approaches to address crime drivers, including enforcement, prevention, intervention, and revitalization. 

Guided by its implementation goals and objectives, the site intends to perform the following activities during the implementation phase: 

  • Engage in daily, proactive community policing in the micro-target area to interrupt opportunities for criminal behavior, especially in the Goulds area micro-focus areas (the Arthur Mays Villa, the Horseshoe, and the 221st street neighborhood). To address criminal elements in the target areas, license plate readers may be deployed. 

  • Work with Code Enforcement, landowners, and residents to address issues with trash, vacant lots, and illegal dumping. 

  • Support existing Goulds Park efforts to engage community members and provide services to support residents and their children. 

  • Project PEACE Community Connectors will provide residents with needs assessments to address issues and make proper referrals to connect them to appropriate services and provide follow-up. 

  • Conduct outreach through the Community Connectors group, Monthly Food Drive-Thru events, social media, and virtual family & neighborhood empowerment workshops with the community to engage them in existing or new anchor point identification and participation. 

  • Launch a Family & Neighborhood Virtual Workshops program and provide opportunities and avenues for volunteerism related to community engagement. 

  • Create advocacy training and build an advocacy team to engage community residents as well as policymakers. 

  • Create volunteer opportunities for individual day events and community event hosting. 

  • Work with existing and emerging providers to share information and strategies to engage residents and areas with specific needs that prevent them from participating positively in the community, such as working with substance abuse and mental health providers. 

  • Require County-funded providers to participate and integrate efforts targeted in the micro area with Project PEACE Community Connectors. 

  • Create and support street-level marketing and advocacy campaigns promoting a sense of community, such as community logo signs, protective face masks, recyclable grocery bags for monthly events, and more. 

Other Key Partners

MDPD, Miami-Dade County Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD), Miami-Dade County District 9 Commissioner, Kionne McGhee, Be Strong International, Farm Share, and other local community-based organizations.   

This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2018-BJ-BX-K035 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.

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