HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #35 - Discussion Itemi
PEOPLE UNITED TO LEAD THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY
P.U.L.S.E,
180 N.E. 19th Street
Miami, Florida 33132
P.U.L.S.E, PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COMMISSION
March 25, 1982
A. An Overview----- -------Rev. J.W. Stepherson
1. Serious neglect of Black neighborhoods by the City regarding
police patrols.
2. P.U.L.S.E.'s proposed remedy:
a. That we receive 14 more regular patrols in Black Zones.
b. That the majority of t ese patrols be foot patrols.
c. That in the predominatfly Black neighborhoods, at least
one Black officer be assigned to each zone car.
3. What we are not asking for:
a. We do not want more money for police. (We simply want
a fair share of what is already being spent.)
b. We do not want more police cars. (Foot patrols will do
nicely.)
B. Our previous efforts with Chief Harms -------- Imam Aleem Fakir
1. The Chief's own criteria for assigning patrols.
2. We sought basic information to verify what Chief Harms told us.
C. Why P.U.L.S.E, has come to the Commission ---- Rev. A. Anderson
1. Refusal of Chief Harms to act.
2. The necessity of foot patrols.
3. The necessity for one Black officer to be in each zone car
in Black neighborhoods.
D. What the statistics show --------------------- Rev. Arthur Jordan
1. The seven predominately Black zones are being short-changed
on regular police patrols by at least 58%.
2. The proportion of serious crime in the seven predominately
Black zones is rapidly rising. The percentage of the total
serious crime reported in those zones rose from 20% to 25%
of the city's total crime in just eight months.
PEOPLE UNITED TO LEAD THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY
P.U,L.S,E.
Committee for Better Police Protection
FACT SHEET
1. On November 6, 1981, a large delegation from P,U.L.S.E. was told by
City of Miami Police Chief Harms that police patrols within the city
were distributed on the basis of the preceeding period's crime sta-
tistics. That is, those police department zones with the highest
level of crime got proportunately the greatest number of patrols,
those with the smallest amount of crime got proportunately the least
number of patrols.
2. Members of the P.U.L.S.E. committee, however, continued to believe
that Black neighborhoods in Miami were being short-changed on police
patrols. Therefore, the committee asked Chief Harms for the basic
data on crime and the location of patrols, This information was pro-
vided, the latest period being September, 1981.
3. The following table summarizes the data that was provided for Sep
tember, 1981. The zones indicated designate the primarily Black
neighborhoods in Miami.
1
2
3
4
5
Total Serious
Total Pat-
of Total
of Total
Zones
Crime
rols/Day
Serious Crime
Patrols
11
67
3
2.7
2.0
12
98
4
3.9
2.6
13
49
3
2.0
2.0
14
log
3
4.4
2.0
42
79
4
3.2
2.6
44
112
3
4.5
2.0
75
96
4Rio
2.6
27
2i4.
15�'
*Part I Crime Statistics Net of Larceny
4. In September, 1981, there were 2,489 total Part I crimes (net of
larceny) reported in the City of Miami with 610 of those crimes re-
ported in'the 7 predominately Black neighborhoods. This represents
approximately 25% of the total crime reported in the City that month.
However, during the next several months those seven areas had a total
of only about 16% (24 out of 152) of the total regular weekday patrols.
5. Conclusion: On the basis of the statistics provided by the Miami
Police Department and on the basis of Chief Harms' own criteria for
assigning patrols, Miami's Black neighborhoods are being short-changed
by at least 14 regular weekday patrols (9fof 152).
t. 0 • •
ADDENDUM TO P. U. L. S. E.
FACT SKEET ON POLICE PATROLS
1. After our March 20, 1982, meeting with Mayor Ferre, Deputy Police
Chief Clarence Dickson told a Miami Herald reporter that the figures
presented to the Mayor were questionable because they were limited
to one month's reports. P.U.L.S.E. used that particular month's
figures because Chief Harms told us that police patrols were assigned
on the basis of the latest crime statistics available. The September,
1981, crime statistics were the latest figures provided by the Miami
Police Department and also were apparently the latest available to
the Department for use in assigning the December, 1981, patrols.
2. However, because of Deputy Chief Dickson's comments we decided to
review all the statistics from December, 1980, through September, 1981,
for the seven predominately Black zones in the City of Miami. The
following table presents the results of that review. (The stastics
for January, 1981, were not provided by the Police Department.)
Months
Dec.
Feb.
Mar,
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
1980
1961
1981
1981
1981
1981
1981
1981
1981
Total Seri-
ous Crime*
2669
2386
1823
3223
2806
2625
2856
2760
2489
Zones
11
51
36
39
62
49
67
56
55
67
12
69
66
61
86
78
96
84
90
98
13
67
64
38
81
61
58
75
65
49
14
92
62
45
103
110
71
101
98
109
42
87
79
66
126
105
86
125
93
79
44
81
89
68
134
122
109
123
130
112
75
75
75
52
105
88
107
102
110
Totals
522
+77`1
79
b97-
1_3
5`f9 +
'bS
V+1
71
of Total
Crimes in
7 Zones
20%
20%
20%
22%
22%
23%
23%
23%
25%
*Part I crime
statistics
net of
larceny.
3. Conclusions;
a. Not only have Miami's Black neighborhoods been consistently short-
changed regarding police patrols, they are also experiencing a
consistently rising serious crime rate which the Miami Police De-
partment apparently has ignored.
b. The Miami Police Department has not consistently applied its own
criteria of assigning police patrols on the basis of recent crime
statistics.