On this Tuesday, June 8, episode of Sundial
Miami-Dade Tries To Tackle Gun Violence
Over the past two weekends in Miami-Dade County there have been a series of deadly shootings.
The Miami-Dade Police Department, along with the county commission, announced the launch of "Operation Summer Heat," a concerted effort by law enforcement to crack down on the ongoing violence.
As the pandemic continues, you can rely on WLRN to keep you current on local news and information. Your support is what keeps WLRN strong. Please become a member today. Donate now. Thank you.
“It's making sure that our seasoned law enforcement agents are out on the scene and making sure they're available. And it's also adding some technical advancements, like more license plate readers, more crime analysts, a state attorney that's on-site to handle these cases more swiftly,” said county Mayor Danielle Levine Cava.
The county commission unanimously voted to pass the mayor’s "Peace and Prosperity Plan" Tuesday. The plan includes millions of dollars for addressing gun violence.
But the approach has drawn some criticism.
“You do not prevent gun violence with police presence,” said Lyle Muhammed, executive director of the Circle of Brotherhood in Miami.
Puerto Rico’s Population Crisis
Initial date from the 2020 U.S. Census paints a stark picture for the U.S. — a declining birth rate and many people waiting to have children.
Over the past decade, the nation experienced its slowest growth rate since the Great Depression. The situation is even more severe in Puerto Rico. The territory lost 11% of its population during that time.
Financial bankruptcy, natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic have driven families off the island to the U.S. mainland.
“But what is not obvious is the most important and dangerous cause of the population collapse, which is not emigration, it’s the collapse of the fertility of the island,” said Luis Pericchi Guerra, the director of the Center of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the University of Puerto Rico.
He leads a group of academics studying the island’s demographic changes and population decline and what those changes might mean for the future of the island. They are sounding the alarm on this “crisis” in hopes that politicians will make policy changes to slow these trends.
“In 20 years, we are going to have an island of very, very old people with nobody to take care of them, essentially. And we have to do something about it,” Pericchi Guerra said.
