HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Com. Gort-Community Policing Article10A THE HERALD, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1995
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JOHN S. KNIGHT (1894-1981)
JAMES L. KNIGHT (1909-1991)
JOE NATOLI
President
DAVID LAWRENCE JR, Publisher and Chairman
JIM HAMPTON DOUGLAS C. CLIFTON
Editor Executive Editor
MARTHA MUSGROVE and TONY PROSCIO
Associate Editors
CHRIS MOBLEY
Associate Publisher / Broward
SAUNDRA KEYES
Managing Editor
Call it a NET gain
Miami has nur-
tured the laud-
able concept
of "community polic-
ing" into a comprehen-
sive program that tai-
lors law enforcement
,to the needs of individ-
ual areas. Cities near
COMMUNITY POLICING
Others can learn from
Miami's success at
bringing government
closer to the people.
and far, wrestling tight
budgets, intractable crime, and disgrun-
tled taxpayers, should take note.
This is no mere "Officer Friendly"
program. Miami's 13 Neighborhood
Enhancement Teams make the most of
police officers' management skills, team
work, and community vision and pres-
ence. Social services and code enforce-
ment specialists also staff the NET
offices. In just three years, the concept's
combined effort has drawn praise and
attention from city and police officials
from Florida and other states.
Dozens will be in Miami today and
tomorrow, attending a police depart-
ment symposium on NET. Officials
from Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and
New York are slated to attend. Here is
some of what they will learn:
■ A police lieutenant is stationed in
each office. As "mini -police chiefs,"
they are responsible for officer deploy-
ment, keeping track of crime in their
area, and developing and implementing
a crime -prevention plan.
• In Wynwood, NET administrators
are helping an economic development
agency build houses that low- and mod-
erate -income residents can afford; in
Coconut Grove, instructors from the
University of Miami hold GED classes
in the NET office.
■ Each office has
code enforcers trained
to spot and cite the
types of violations that
can make a neighbor-
hood deteriorate.
Their force was most
significant in the reha-
bilitation of an apart-
ment building that for years housed drug
addicts, derelicts, and other dangerous
nuisances.
■ Residents can, at their community
NET office, pull occupational licenses,
pay sanitation bills, liens, and fines, and
get permits for tree removal, garage
sales, and home remodeling.
Metro -Dade has adapted NET's for-
mat to its own branch offices in unincor-
porated areas. Currently the county's
program aims mostly at service
enhancement — trash pickup and the
like. That's fine, but building the police
component is vital to the long-lasting
success of "Team Metro."
Crime can sneak up on even the safest
of neighborhoods, with devastating
effects. So police presence in regional
offices is essential. It works in many
ways: In Miami, for instance, one NET
officer is working with the state Depart-
ment of Transportation as it redesigns a
downtown interstate ramp. The officer
wants to ensure that the design deters,
not enhances, crime.
NET is not a cure-all. But it offers
encouraging evidence that government
can be effective and inclusive in an
increasingly bureaucracy -weary, and
sometimes police -wary, community.
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15-01668-Submittal-Com. Gort-Community Policing Article