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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExhibit 4Page 1 of 16 SMART Office Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program CDFA # 16.5 80 The City of Miami Police Department 2007 Grant Proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs SMART Office Page 2 of 16 Table of Contents Abstract I. Statement of Problem 3 11. Address Verification 6 III. Absconder Apprehension Operations 8 IV. Sexual Offender/Predator Mapping & Tracking 8 V. Parent & Community Education Project 10 VI. Capabilities and Competencies 11 Vll. impact/Outcomes, Evaluation, and Sustainability 14 Page 3 of 16 Program Narrative Statement of Problem: The City of Miami is an incorporated municipality of 34 square miles and approximately 380,000 residents (current estimate)It is the largest of 35 municipalities that make up Miami -Dade County. the largest county in the state with a total population of 2.5 million residents. Registration of sex offenders is the responsibility of The Florida Department of Corrections, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Miami -Dade County Police Department. FDLE provides online sex offender information to the public on their website in both English & Spanish. Florida State statutes currently exceed several SORNA guidelines. Presently, the City of Miami Police Department manages and monitors 385 registered sex offenders and 34 sexual predators (419 total) within its jurisdiction. Additionally, several of the registered sex offenders are considered homeless and live on the street with no specific address. (See other attachments) On a monthly basis the number of sex offenders can fluctuate due to offenders moving in and out of the City of Miami which is bordered and/or accessible to six other cities, and unincorporated Miami -Dade County. In addition to the existing sexual offender population there are 51 sex offenders who have absconded and are currently at large. Paae 4 of 16 The demographics of the Miami's offender population include 373 male offenders and 12 female offenders. The racial profile of this population is made up of 7% white offenders, 30% black offenders and 63% Hispanic offenders. The majority of offenses are fall into the category of sexual battery or lewd & Lascivious Act which are almost evenly divided. A small minority of the offenders were charged with a child pornography offense. The Miami Police Department's monitoring of sexual offenders includes address verification, enforcement of Miami -Dade County Ordinance 21-277 (The Miami -Dade County Sexual Offender and Sexual Predator Ordinance) which restricts sex offenders from residing within 2,500 feet of any school and also restricts them from entering day care centers and prohibits them from entering a park while children under 16 years of age are present. Additionally, the Miami Police Department must make notification to the Miami -Dade County Police Department of absconding offenders. During 2006, the Special Victims Unit handled 164 sexual battery cases and 106 Lewd and Lascivious cases. It is important to note that of the 106 Lewd and Lascivious cases handled, in each case the victim was a minor. During the first 6 months of 2007, the unit has handled 63 sexual battery cases and 43 Lewd and Lascivious cases. The Miami Police Department Special Victims Unit currently monitors 34 sexual predators consistently on a monthly basis and has been able to use limited overtime funding to ensure manpower is available to carry out address verification checks on these dangerous offenders who pose the greatest threat potential for committing additional offenses. The SVU is staffed with 8 detectives and 2 supervisors assigned to handle sexual battery and sexual assault cases. The substantial case load of new offenses and on- Pne 5 of 16 going cases coupled with the need to conduct monitoring and address verifications of 419 sex offenders frequently taxes the operation of the unit. The Miami Police Department seeks to enhance its efforts to ensure its monitoring of sex offenders and predators and provides for a minimum of 4 contacts per year per offender monitored. Quarterly monitoring provides the officers with more timely information on the offender's whereabouts and activities and it would increase the perception by these offenders that they are being monitored closely and may deter their involvement in new offenses. Currently to insure that quarterly checks of each sex offender and monthly checks of 34 predators are completed, the SUV depends on on -duty officers and limited overtime funding from the general fund and Law Enforcement Trust funds. When on -duty detectives are utilized to conduct address verification their investigative responsibilities must be set aside and this results frequently in backlogged cases. Overtime funding has helped to carry out the verifications. but the same overtime funds must also support overtime needs for on -going investigations. No only does case load impact the Special Victims Unit's ability to complete its checks but the availability of the offenders has been an impediment as well. The Commander of the Unit reports that approximately 40% of the in -person address verifications checks result in the offender not being home and in these cases the detectives must depend on a family member or neighbor to verify if the offender still resides at the address. When verification cannot be made this necessitates the detective having to return a second time to complete the verification which is time consuming considering the 419 current offenders they are responsible for. While the investigators strive to conduct the checks when the offender is most likely to be home. they do not have complete control over the Page 6 of 16 offender's movements and scheduling a specific monitoring date and time is not practical. Additionally. detectives enter the results of their address verifications in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on-line offender registry which can be time consuming. Implementation and/or Enhancement Strategy The following four projects are proposed to enhance the Miami Police Department"s compliance with the Adam Walsh Act and state guidelines: Address Verification The Miami Police Department seeks to ensure sexual offenders and sexual predators receive residence address verifications on a frequent and regular basis, and violations of registration requirements are identified swiftly, reported, made public and followed up in a timely manner. To this end we propose to utilize two teams each consisting of 6 detectives and one sergeant (14 personnel total) to conduct quarterly address verifications of all 385 sex offenders in the City of Miami. Each team will be made up of 3 detective units consisting of 2 detectives each who will conduct the on site checks under the supervision of an investigative sergeant. The total of 385 sexual offenders will be divided into two groups of 193 offenders who will be each scheduled to be contacted once every three months (quarterly). Please note that these offenders are already required to physically report in person to the Miami -Dade Police Department once each quarter as per Miami -Dade County requirements (See other attachments) Page 7 of 16 In order to document all contacts made during address verification operations detectives will complete a "Quarterly Address Verification Contact Form" (See other attachments). The Quarterly Address Form contains ask for general information such as who resides in the home. other residences. current work address. presence of a computer, name of internet provider, and the detective's observations. This form will be filled out during each time address verification is conducted. Additionally, each time an address verification is conducted the information obtained during the check must be entered in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's on-line offender registry. Once entered, a permanent record is created and information can be down loaded to show a record of the address verifications made. We feel a greater number of address verifications will result in better supervision, enhanced perception by the offender that law enforcement is monitoring their activities, and more current information on the offender and his whereabouts and activities. Our goals are to increase address verifications and contacts and provide greater and more frequent information to the State (FDLE) and Miami -Dade County, and enable law enforcement personnel to respond with greater speed in the location, apprehension and incarceration of absconding registered sex offenders and predators. We intend to make the names and locations of sex offenders and sexual predators more available to the officer on the street so they can be more aware of these potential threats in the neighborhoods they patrol. Ultimately, we feel the increase of monitoring through quarterly address verification will result in greater compliance and a reduced chance of recidivism due to the information sharing between City. County and State agencies. Pace 8 of 16 Absconder Apprehension Operations Utilizing funding from the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant. the Miami Police Department seeks to conduct quarterly operations with the Miami -Dade County Sexual Offender Unit inside the City of Miami. At present the "sweeps" for absconders are conducted with the Miami -Dade County Police Department, but they are infrequent due to detectives being handling ongoing investigations, responding to requests from officers on the street and manpower shortages. Because the City of Miami is centralized in proximity to several other municipalities it is easy for an offender to go a short distance in most cases a mile or less and enter a another municipality where they can remain anonymous and undetected for a long period before being located. The Miami Police Department would like to schedule four (4) operations throughout the year in conjunction with the Miami -Dade County Police Department to search for and apprehend sexual offenders who have absconded in the City of Miami and Miami -Dade County. Currently there are 51 absconders at large from the City of Miami. Bringing together the resources of both departments to bear on the problem of sexual offenders failing to comply with registration requirements will increase the likelihood of absconders being apprehended and increase the exchange of information between agencies. The arrest and incarceration of absconders has value in that it may serve to deter other offenders from violating registration requirements. Sexual Offender/Predator Mapping & Offense Tracking Project The City of Miami Police Department seeks to utilize funding from the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program to input and map all residences of sexual offenders and Page 9 of 16 predators in the City of Miami and over lay all new sex offenses with the location of all registered sex offenders in the City of Miami. Using data generated by the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and Crime View software sex offense information would be updated on a weekly basis sex offense incidents would be downloaded and projected or layered onto maps for each NET Area containing the known addresses of the registered sex offenders. The information would be visually represented, but could also be accessed to provide incident information. Offenses depicted in a specific Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) Area would be linked on the computer map so that the case number. address of offense, time of offense, date of offenses and unit handling the offense would be displayed and at the same time the offenders address would not only give the locations but the name and other important information. Additionally, when this information is overlaid it will have the potential to show patterns or correlations of new sex offenses with the residences of registered sex offenders. Not only could the information aid in the management of sex offenders it would have the potential to produce leads for detectives investigating sex offenses. The maps would also be made available for patrol officers who are responsible for NET areas containing these offenders. Officers would now have more insight into who resides in their neighborhoods. Armed with that information they are in a better position to be proactive. A prime example is the case of 9 year old Jessica Lundsford who was discovered missing from her home in Homosassa Florida in February of 2005. The investigation revealed she was abducted from her bedroom, raped and murdered by a registered sex offender who was living only yards away from her home. Sex offender mapping has the potential Pap_e 10 of 16 to provide leads in not only sex offense cases. but in the investigation of cases such as Jessica Lundsford that begin as missing persons investigations. Parent and Community Education Project The Miami Police Department seeks grant funding to provide education aimed at making parents and their children safe from sexual offenders and sexual predators. Because sex offenses are committed not only by strangers, but more commonly are committed by family members, friends, neighbors. even clergy members, and teachers as well as other persons in positions of trust. i; is critical that parents are armed with the knowledge to keep their families safe. Statistics show that the majority of all sex offenses are committed by someone known to the victim. The Miami Police Department supports citizen education because it is a proactive approach to preventing sex offenses. During 2003, the Miami Police Department had first hand experience in the importance of alerting and educating the public while investigating the Shenandoah serial rapist. The Shenandoah neighborhood of Miami was terrorized by a serial rapist who was responsible for the rape of 6 victims some of which were school age. It was learned that putting information out to citizens and schools was critical to protecting the public and eventually solving this crime. For these reasons, the Miami Police Department proposes to utilize grant funding to conduct presentations to Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) at all seven (7) middle schools in the City of Miami and twenty seven (27) elementary school PTAs in the City of Miami. Additionally. as part of the community outreach, the Special Victims Unit will make presentations to community groups in each of the 12 Neighborhood Enhancement Areas in the City of Miami. These groups consist of community Page 11 of 16 associations and crime watch groups who are active in the community. In an effort to As an effort to provide information to the community. the Special Victims Unit proposes to use grant funds to produce an informative pamphlet which will outline the Adam Walsh Act, explain how to keep children safe from sexual offenders & predators, and direct citizens to resources available from the City, County and State to identify offenders in their communities. We feel, to keep the community safe from sexual offenders we must keep the community informed and we believe this project will accomplish that end. Capabilities/Competencies The Special Victims Unit of the Miami Police Department will provide management and coordination of all projects proposed in the Adam Walsh Act Implementation grant. The Commander of the Special Victims Unit (SVU) will act as grant coordinator and be responsible for the overall management of the grant. The Commander of the Special Victims Unit (SVU) holds the rank of Lieutenant and reports and is subordinate to a Captain and Major in the Criminal Investigations Division of the department. The Commander of the SVU is responsible for the following: • Oversight of all projects and responsibility for achieving goals and objectives. • Ensure project stays on timeline. • Ensures project stays within budget and all financial information and documentation is submitted. • Ensures progress reports are completed and submitted in a timely manner. Two sergeants are assigned to SVU and work under the supervision of the Commander of SVU will be responsible for the day to day operation and supervision Pate 12 of 16 of the all grant projects. The Sergeants will divide all proposed project responsibilities as follows: Responsibilities: SVU Sergeant #1 6 detectives SVU Sergeant #2 6 detectives Total activities Address Verifications 772 contacts (193 offenders verified 2 times per year) 772 contacts (193 offenders verified 2 times per year) 1,544 total address verifications Absconder Operations 1 & 2"d Quarter 2008 3`d & 4`" Quarter 2008 4 operations PTA Meetings 17 Middle & elementary schools 17 Middle & Elementary schools 34 schools (7 middle & 27 elementary) Community Meetings 6 NET Areas 6 Net Areas 12 meetings Crime Mapping of Occurring Offenses & registered Sex offenders Assigned to a Technical Crime Analyst Mapping will be completed weekly 12 NET area crime maps per week (online) Financial Reporting All financial reporting and requests for reimbursements is accomplished through the Police Department's Business Management Section who by a designated Administrative Assistant, who coordinates and receives all financial information including overtime logs Page 13 of 16 and purchases requisitions and completes all reimbursement requests and Financial Status Reports (FSRs). Progress Reporting The structure and process for progress reporting of performance goals and measures is similar to the financial reporting process. All reports are submitted through the police "chain of command" which includes all superior employees in the employee respective division including an assistant chief and then it is forward to the Administration Division which encompasses the Business Management Section. The report is then forwarded to the Grants Coordinator, who reviews each report for accuracy and compliance with the grant"s stated goals and objectives and forwards these reports to the grantor. Information & Analysis The Special Victims Unit currently maintains files on all registered sex offenders and predators in the City of Miami. Each time address verification is made an address verification form is completed and current information is updated on the offender. All address verification contacts are entered on line into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) sex offender maintenance log system where a permanent record is established noting the date and time of the contact as well as the identity of the officer (Offender.flcjn.net/sexpredatormaintenance). The SVU has been conducting address verifications for the past six years. Currently our department has utilized a combination of on -duty detectives supplemented by detectives working on an overtime basis to ensure address verifications could be carried out in a timely manner. Impact/Outcomes, Evaluation, and Sustainability Page l4 of I6 Impact/Outcome The Miami Police Department has identified the following goals for this grant: ) Address Verification Project Objective- To conduct address verifications on l00% of the 385 registered sex offenders in the City of Miami quarterly (or 4 times annually). Address Verification Project Goal — To obtain registration compliance from all sex offenders residing in the City of Miami. The documentation, monitoring and evaluation of the is project will be achieved through a comprehensive monthly report that will identify the total number of offenders who were in compliance with sex offender registry requirements, the number of registered sex offender address records verified or updated, the number of registered sex offenders identified as not residing at their registered address. In the absence of grant funding the department will explore the possibility of getting assistance from our Operations Division (uniform patrol officers) to augment address verifications. The Miami Police Department is willing to participate in additional data collection efforts for the purposes of evaluation. 2) Absconder Apprehension Objective- To locate and apprehend registered sex offenders and predators who have failed to comply with AWA registry requirements through quarterly interagency apprehension efforts. Absconder Apprehension Goal- To insure all registered sex offenders are accounted for to insure the safety and security of the community. Page 15 of 16 An "After Action" report will document all quarterly interagency absconder operations identifying the offenders at large. addresses checked and outcome. Our department will attempt to identify funds to continue these types of operations possibly with a combination of on -duty and off -duty personnel. 3) Parent and Community Education Project Objective- To conduct sex offender/predator information presentations for Parent Teacher Associations at all 7 Middle schools and twenty-seven (27) of all Elementary Schools in the City of Miami. Additionally, to conduct one community meeting in each of the 12 Neighborhood Enhancement Team areas of the City of Miami. To distribute an educational pamphlet provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) with tips on how to protect themselves from sexual offenders/predators. Parent and Community Education Project Goal: To provide instruction on how parents can protect their children and themselves from sexual offenders and predators with the goal of reducing victimization. Documentation, monitoring and evaluation will be accomplished through a comprehensive monthly report that will track the number of meetings attended and the number of participants in attendance and feedback. In order to continue educational presentations to reach additional schools and community members the department will examine other funding sources and also explore the possibility of enlisting our Community Relations Section to aid in presentations to PTAs and community groups. 4) Sexual Offender Mapping & Offense Tracking Objective: To provide detectives and other departmental members mapping data visually identifying the location of Page 16 of 16 all registered sex offenders and predators in the City of Miami correlated with the incidence of sex offenses updated on a weekly basis accessible through the police computer network. Sexual Offender Mapping & Offense Tracking Goals: To assist detectives with the development of leads or establishing patterns in sex offense cases by providing on-line maps of the location, name, and other data of registered sexual offenders layered with occurring sex offenses for the purpose of determining if occurring sexual offenses are being perpetrated by registered sex offenders living in the geographic area. Mapping and Offense Tracking will be incorporated in a comprehensive monthly report (encompassing all of the projects) that will document the updating of all maps produced and cases where the mapping effort aided an investigation. Upon evaluating the effectiveness of the mapping project it will be determined if this type of information can be incorporated into the routine duties of the crime analyst.