Did you know there was an armed robbery in my ‘hood last week?  Well, if you didn’t, don’t feel too bad.  Neither did I.  Not only did this crime happen just a couple blocks from my home, but it happened a few doors down from one of our own council members.  He didn’t know about it, either.  At least not right away.  It turns out he eventually received an email about it from North Miami Beach Assistant/then-Interim City Manager Mac Serda on August 26, 2013, two days after the incident occurred.  Why it took him that long to notify the council is a big mystery to me.  But, who am I to question the powers that be?  I’m just a blogger.

I’ve been debating with the committee in my head for the last couple days whether or not to publish this column.  The committee obviously won because you’re reading it now.

Ordinarily I’d jump on a story like this because it’s definitely newsworthy.  But I’ve become slightly gun shy (no pun intended) after being gently chastised by the “administration” in the police department for not getting “their side of the story first.”   I recently published two blogs based on tips I received from reliable sources.  Even though I requested and received public records regarding those issues (yes, I do my homework), according to the NMBPD higher ups, I should have gotten sound bites from department representatives first.  At least, I think that’s what they meant.

My first column, Who’s on First?, was about the jurisdictional issues between North Miami Beach and North Miami regarding traffic stops on Biscayne Boulevard and Sunny Isles Causeway.

In the second one, NMB: Where People Care?, I smacked the city (and in particular, the Council) for not holding an America’s Night Out Against Crime event.  For some strange reason, the police department’s administration took it personally, even though I never – not once – pointed a finger at the PD.  It wasn’t even about them.  Touchy, touchy!

The jurisdictional issue I referred to is North Miami Beach’s agreement to have its police department handle traffic accidents in North Miami’s territory.  This agreement is outlined in several Joint Declarations of the Police Chiefs of both North Miami and North Miami Beach as attached to the Mutual Aid Agreements between both cities over the years, through and including one dated April 12, 2007.  However, there is no Joint Declaration attached to the most recent Mutual Aid Agreement dated January 8, 2010, which expires on March 1, 2015.  Yet, for some reason, NMB cops are still handling traffic accidents in North Miami territory.

That column prompted a phone call from Police Chief Larry Gomer, who explained to me why he believes it’s in the best interest of both North Miami and North Miami Beach for our cops to keep doing North Miami’s job.  According to my notes, these were his reasons:

1.  Before all the commercial development sprouted up between 135th Street and Sunny Isles Causeway, that stretch of Biscayne Boulevard was fairly desolate.  Since North Miami’s business district ended north of 135th Street, Sunny Isles Causeway (a/k/a 163rd Street) was a good distance away from their usual territory.  So NMB saved them the trip by agreeing to take over traffic accidents along the entire stretch.  In addition, while Oleta State Park, located on the south side, is North Miami’s jurisdiction, Eastern Shores is located on the north side of Sunny Isles Causeway, so traffic accidents on both sides of the street became our problem.  I’m pretty sure it was one of those seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time moments.  For North Miami, anyway.  I’m not clear on what NMB got out of the deal, but who am I to say?

2.  Chief Gomer also stated that two thirds of Biscayne Boulevard already belongs to North Miami Beach.  Considering how screwed up our boundaries are on the Boulevard, I’m hard pressed to confirm that statistic.

3.  Another reason he gave me was that the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and Sunny Isles Causeway is split between three jurisdictions: NMB, North Miami and Miami-Dade County.  In order for North Miami Beach cops to control the proliferation of beggars on that corner, it was deemed in our city’s best interest to maintain the jurisdiction of the entire intersection.  How that has anything to do with the handling of traffic accidents escapes me, but maybe I’m missing something.

4.  Chief Gomer also told me that there are an average of 194 traffic accidents along these roadways per year, which he said “works out to approximately one every other day.”  Um, yeah.  I kinda missed that point, too.

5.  Lastly, he explained that once NMB is allowed to have a red light traffic camera system in place, we will take over for the North Miami cameras now installed on Biscayne Boulevard, for which North Miami gets the revenue.  If that ever does happen (did hell freeze over yet?), it will be interesting to see how willingly North Miami gives up its cash cow.

Chief Gomer wanted me to hear his side of the story.  I did.  Now you have it.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly convinced.  As promised, though, I gave him ink.

As for not having an event for America’s Night Out Against Crime, Sgt. Richard Silberman wrote to me, “I got hold of Tom Carney who informed me that we do this type of event in October due to better weather, and October is Crime Prevention month. We’ve been doing it in October for several years. Funding has also been a constant issue.”

So there’s the “official” reason for that.  The peanut gallery has no comment.

Now, back to the home invasion/armed robbery incident that took place on August 24, 2013.  As I said, I got a tip from a very trusted source, and decided to follow up.  I immediately made a public records request for a copy of the police report.  Keeping in mind my promise to get “their side of the story,” I then called Police Information Officer Tom Carney for more information.

In response to my public records request for the police report, Chief Gomer sent me the following email:

Stephanie,

I know you want to put out information on the great police work we did on this case, but unfortunately, this case is still an ongoing criminal investigation, and can’t be released at this time (119 exempt at this time). Once the investigation is complete, we will release it to you. We will also be doing a press release. Thanks for supporting our efforts.

Larry Gomer
Chief of Police
North Miami Beach Police department.

Tom Carney’s response basically reiterated what the Chief wrote me, adding that they “are still looking for other individuals” who might be involved.  When I asked him if a press release had been issued, he told me none was issued yet because it might compromise the investigation.  (My source told me one suspect was caught, but one was still on the loose.)

Here’s the thing, though.  How many open cases have been reported in the news, for which press releases were issued, and which the public is invited to help solve?  Just turn on the local news right now and see for yourself.  I’m betting that in any given nightly newscast you can see video clips of suspects caught on camera committing a crime and then fleeing the scene.  The video is aired on the news for the purpose of asking the public to call their PD or a tip line if they have any information.  How many criminals were caught because of tips from individuals who make that call?  I’m guessing plenty or the cops would have stopped asking for help by now.

If, as Tom Carney stated, the cops “are still looking for other individuals,” I would think the public has a right to know if there are armed and dangerous criminals on the loose.  Especially in my ‘hood.  Believe me, Mr. Carney.  We can take it.  Nothing shocks us around here anymore.

As I already stated, I attempted to get all sides of the story before publishing this column.  Even though I happen to be privy to some of the details of the incident (through my source and from what I was told was stated in the email from Mac Serda to the council), I’m not going to reveal those details until I receive the “official” public records of the police report and said email.  What I will divulge, however, is that the two guns involved were recovered by the police.  FYI: They also took ski masks into custody.

Frankly, I’m not sure what the NMBPD protocol is regarding the issuance of press releases, but it sure seems to me that notifying the residents of an armed robbery and the possibility of a violent criminal on the loose would be a matter of public safety.  Don’t we have a right to know so we can protect ourselves accordingly?  We’re not children, and we’re not stupid.

I’m also guessing that, with or without a press release, the suspect who got away just might have a clue that the cops are looking for him.  He can’t be that stupid, either.  (Although, I wouldn’t bet on that – he did drop his ski mask at the crime scene.)

I still think Chief Gomer’s reasons why NMB is still doing North Miami’s traffic jobs are lame.  In the same vein, I’m not buying the rationale why our PD has not issued a press release about an armed robbery in our city.  Sorry, but it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

I’m guessing the Chief and his Sergeant aren’t going to be too happy with me for publishing this column.  But because they decided not to issue a press release, you’re reading about it on VotersOpinion.com instead of the Miami Herald.

Due to some excellent police work, our cops got one criminal, two guns and two ski masks off the street.  Considering that our beleaguered police officers could use some good publicity for a change, it’s almost criminal not to give them the kudos they deserve.

So even though I’m just a blogger, here’s your shout out:

I really appreciate all your hard work.  Great job, guys!

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”