MIAMI – Law enforcement officials will be stepping up patrols in parts of Miami that have been the most affected by gun violence, officials announced Friday.
City of Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo was joined by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, as well as other local leaders, as he announced a joint 90-day operation to combat gun violence.
Areas that will be targeted include Little Havana, Model City, Little Haiti, Overtown and Allapattah, which they said combined account for more than 80% of the gun violence in the city.
“The zip code and the neighborhood where you live should not determine your safety. It should not determine if you can live a safe and happy life,” Cava said.
Acevedo said the operation will include adding 2,700 additional coverage hours a week for law enforcement officers and that 130 officers will saturate the five Miami neighborhoods.
Acevedo said that he believes if gun violence is reduced in those areas, it will also reduce gun violence in other parts of the county.
“The 90-day operation will ensure that we use hot spot policing in a constitutional manner, which by the way, crooks usually don’t take a shot when the cops are right there,” he said. “This is not open season to stop and frisk and harass people of color. This is about being good police officers.”
Plus, more officers are being added to an existing federal task force to better identify which cases may merit enhanced prosecution.
Acevedo said authorities will receive daily briefings and debriefings and will report their findings to the community. Information gathered will be shared with Miami-Dade Police.
“This city has invested, this county has invested, the taxpayers here have invested in some great technology that should be the envy of policing other than New York,” Acevedo added.
The chief said after 90 days they will evaluate and decided whether they will continue the program.