After a series of shootings in Miami’s Brickell area, city leaders are taking steps they say will cut down on an alleged rise in gun-related crime. But data from the Miami Police Department (MPD) shows that crime in the area has actually gone down since last year.
Late last week, City of Miami District 2 Commissioner Sabina Covo announced an effort to curb what her office called an "uptick in gun violence" in the Brickell neighborhood. She called for an increase in police activity and analysis from the city's code compliance department to ensure nightclubs are meeting city safety standards.
This came into response to resident concerns after a shooting near The Corner Club left a woman seriously injured on October 22. This was the third shooting near the club since this August, and members of the Brickell Homeowners Association (BHA) called for a community meeting with police and city officials to call for action.
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"[We had] a lot of complaints regarding different issues, public safety concerns, but mainly about gun violence," Covo told WLRN in an interview.
Despite the recent incidents, data from MPD, provided to WLRN in response to a records request, shows that gun-related crime in Brickell has actually gone down by more than a third since last year.
"Crime as a whole in Brickell is down. There's no trend or ongoing situation," MPD Brickell Neighborhood Commander Andres Valdes told WLRN.
The number of incidents in Brickell involving guns has gone down by more than a third since last year, according to crime statistics provided by MPD. By October 30, 2022, there were 41 gun-related crimes in the Brickell area, including two homicides and five aggravated assaults with firearms. So far this year, there have been 26 gun-related incidents with no homicides.
Abby Apé, managing director of the Brickell Homeowners Association, said that residents in her group have wanted to see more police in Brickell for years, especially after recent shootings.
"We’re the heart of the city and we need to make sure that we’re well protected so tourists and residents feel safe," Apé told WLRN.
A "surplus" of officers
Valdes said there's actually a "surplus" of officers every night in Brickell. Restaurants and entertainment venues in the area hire off-duty police officers to work security detail on weekends, and the police department assigns officers to the neighborhood depending on their needs, he explained.
"Every community is gonna ask for more officers," Valdes asserted. "But historically, venues usually hire off-duty officers to be there."
Commissioner Covo argues that safety is nevertheless still a concern because of Brickell's growing residential population.
"Now there's more residential buildings and of course, there's more need for public safety," Covo said.
Covo and Commander Valdes said the owners of The Corner Club have posted off-duty MPD officers as security detail at their venue. The police department has spoken with the owners of a nearby parking lot where several shootings have occurred, and asked them to post a security guard there on weekends.
The Commissioner said her office is also considering the possibility of legislation that will limit alcohol sales in the Brickell area earlier than the current 5 a.m. cutoff.
Covo is up for reelection in Miami'sNovember 7 municipal election.
