Feature Story
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Police officers, like reporters, need to hit the streets, an increasingly archaic practice. Modern policing relies on the comfortable and technically superior patrol car, which comes equipped with computers, internet, face recognition technology, etc. Still, many consider that the best deterrent for crime is the presence of a police officer doing the rounds. As an added bonus, officers become members of the communities. By Raul Guerrero.
Police Commander Antonio Regeira met with Downtown News and a handful of concerned neighbors for a conversation about the increasing homeless population along NE 2nd Avenue. Specifically, the conversation turned into the criminal element within the homeless and the threat posed to pets, children, and the community in general. In these times of COVID-19, the spread of disease was a priority. “The moment you step out of your building, they are in your face,” said Edgar Castro, a computer specialist and web designer, resident of the Congress Building. “You feel intimidated and forced to give them money. These are people I have never seen before, probably shipped from elsewhere or released from jail. They are intoxicated, drugged or insane.”
Silvio Lima, resident of the Viscayne Tower and photographer, has documented for months the seizing of a bus stop for illegal activity, namely drinking in public, drug use, and lewd behavior, misdemeanors. Commander Regueira points out the effect Pottinger has had on law enforcement. “Some residents may not be aware of what a police officer can and cannot do in relation to the homeless population and may think we are not doing our jobs.” It does seem counter-intuitive that a homeless person commits infractions for which regular law-abiding citizens would be penalized.
Mr. Lima points to the spot vagrants use as a bathroom — right next to a shop and a bus stop: “They drink all day and relieve themselves with impunity.” The improvised bathroom faces two residential towers. Families with children live in those towers. Restaurants, half a dozen shops, a hair studio, and a computer store are steps away. “Why aren’t they arrested? What they do is illegal.”
Commander Regueira explains that police officers have to make sure if the
homeless individual was engaged in activities like urinating and defecating,
which are deemed Life Sustaining acts, that there was no public bathroom
available within a 1/4 mile. And the person has to be offered the option of a
shelter. If he or she refuses, then the officers can proceed to make an
arrest.
The owner of the convenience store Red Apple joins the conversation. Vagrants, he says, not only engage in minor crimes. He relates the story of a vagrant who quarterbacks a team of homeless men to pass counterfeited $100 bills. He sends them to buy beer paying with the bogus money. “He waits outside the store. The second time he tried, I went out and told him to never come back again.”
The Bus Stop
That is the epicenter. Vagrants have four convenience stores that sell single beers, including a 7-ELEVEN, and high pedestrian traffic to panhandle. There used to be laws banning aggressive panhandling, but they were reversed. The law infringed on the vagrant’s freedom of speech, but now residents are asking if the alleged freedom of speech outweighs the right of residents to protect their lives? “Every time a vagrant invades your personal space not wearing a mask you life is in danger,” says Mr. Lima. He turns to the bus stop. “Why did they build it there, anyway? It only attracts drunks?”
Commander Regueira has no jurisdiction over bus stops, but the question echoes the many questions for which residents find no answers. Homelessness has political, financial and legal ramifications beyond law enforcement.
Those gathered for the impromptu community talk commend the police for its prompt response to their many calls. Their prompt response has prevented the neighborhood from further deteriorating. A lady hurrying to purchase last-minute condiments for dinner interjects: “I see the Commander himself dispersing the drunks and trying to educate them about wearing masks… It’s not easy. Even if they arrest them, I am told, no sooner the drunks are booked they get released. Sometimes it takes more time for an officer to do the paperwork than the fellow they brought in to be released.”
COVID-19 has aggravated the problem. Even violent criminals are released to the community. Downtown News reported in June the case of a man who punched a Downtown resident so viciously he fractured his skull. The perpetrator is back roaming the streets with an ankle bracelet hopefully keeping track of his whereabouts.
One police officer corroborates the revolving door nature of the justice system, requesting anonymity. He arrested a guy, and there he was again cross-legged sitting at the bus stop two days later. He walks around pretending to wash cars, an empty bucket and a sponge in hand. The guy is charismatic, has many stories to tell… As he charms attendants behind the counters, he is pushing all the candy bars he can into the bucket, the sponge muffing the noise. Then he sells the stolen goods for drugs.
The Police officer faults business owners for hiring vagrants to clean windows, take the garbage out, and pay them with beer. Why would vagrants leave the neighborhood? Not to mention the ill-informed residents who give them money because they think they are being compassionate. It is good PR for the soul, but terrible for the neighborhood. Vagrants get money and go straight to purchase drugs. When the high subsides, they resort to stealing and other criminal activity.
The Effect on Businesses
The owner of the upscale STUDIO D laments that vagrants often want to come in to use the bathroom. When he says no, they start screaming and banging at the door. “It frightens his clientele. Clients are afraid to come downtown.” He is not alone. The manager at Fratelli Milano seconds the complaint. “The homeless situation is getting out of hand. Last week, a young lady was having lunch. Two homeless men in their twenties just grabbed chairs and sat next to her and started pestering her.” Politely, the manger asked them to leave. They did, but at a restaurant down the road they got into a loud and dangerous altercation.
“In addition to COVID-19, we have to deal with these aggressive homeless people,” the owner of a restaurant on Avenue 3 concurs. And shaking his head adds: “It’s a problem.”
A problem without apparent solution. A board member of a HOA in a neighboring tower thinks that organizations charged with eradicating homelessness have no incentive to do it. “These organizations get millions and millions in funding. The moment the homeless disappear from our streets, these funds also will disappear, and the bureaucrats will have to sell fish for a living.”
Homelessness is a complex issue. Frustrated residents over-simplify it. Steve Dutton, an advocate for a more human approach to homelessness, wrote an op-ed for Downtown News: “What if we can learn more about the individual life stories of those who are homeless and remain unsheltered in our downtown streets? Can we dehumanize these individuals? I believe there are more answers to this problem and one way is to learn their life stories.”
On the other hand, the residents’ frustration is well-founded. A resident of the LOFT 2 indicates that besides her mortgage, she pays $6000 in taxes, and the monthly homeowners association fee plus assessments nears $1000. “As the mother of a school-age daughter, it infuriates me. Does my daughter deserve to be put at risk or see a man peeing openly every time she steps out of the building?”
And with many people facing eviction, the issue of homelessness is bound to get murkier. A 50 Biscayne resident, owner of a shop near the Bus Stop, reflects for a second and captures a generalized feeling: “Now more than ever, we must differentiate between the true homeless, people that by no fault of their own end up on the streets, and these professional vagrants.”
A sudden Conclusion
Going forward there will be zero tolerance for criminal behavior, observes Commander Regueira.
Downtown News: Many in the community believe the best crime deterrent is the presence of a police officer walking the streets.
Downtown Miami has the lowest crime rates in decades, Commander Regueira indicates. It would be hard for him to justify assigning an officer to a place with little crime. It’s a question of statistics.
Downtown News: Statistics change constantly. Residents claim prevention is a proven way to keep statistics positive.
The Commander looks around, digesting the neighborhood’s wisdom. He will deploy an officer to the downtown area, he says. An experiment.
A sudden downpour abruptly ends the conversation.
Raul Guerrero is the Editor of Downtown News.
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