In the comment section of a recent blog, a North Miami reader posted a website called Neighborhood Scout, which stated that the crime index in that city is 6 out of a possible 100, with the explanation that North Miami is “safer than 6% of the cities in the US.” Based on that comment, I noted that this necessarily indicates that the remaining 94% of cities in the US are safer than North Miami.
In posting the crime rate data for North Miami, Neighborhood Scout indicates that its information is from the 2013 year total data, released in final form in November, 2014. I was curious to see what type of information I could find out by doing a little research of my own.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation jointly host an interactive website called Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics (UCR Data Online)”that allows users to build their own customized data tables.” Users can create their own charts in order to obtain crime statistics on a national, state or municipal basis, and customize the tables to include multiple variables, such as number of years, types of crimes, numbers of crimes, crime rates, and the like. The most recent data currently available on this website is through the year 2012. The crime rate statistics for 2013 were published in November of 2014, but they have not yet been made available for comparison on the UCR Data Online website.
Just for fun, I decided to compare the violent crime rates for the ten year period from 2002 through 2012 for the entire US, the State of Florida, and the four neighboring cities of Aventura, Miami Shores, North Miami and North Miami Beach.
The Violent Crime Rate column is calculated as the number of crimes per 100,000 of the population. The four columns to the right of those figures are the categories of the specific crimes that are included in the total Violent Crime Rate.
Here are the results:
The good news is that over the last ten years, the violent crime rate has decreased nationally, statewide and locally. Also, while the violent crime rate in Florida is higher than the US average, since 2009 the gap between the state and national rates does seem to be slowly narrowing.
Locally, however, a much different picture is being presented.
For the year 2012, no one would be surprised to see that Aventura’s violent crime rate is roughly 65% less than national rate and about 72% less than the crime rate for the State of Florida.
During the same year, Miami Shores experienced 450.9 violent crimes per 100,000 population, which is greater than the national rate, but slightly less than the state crime rate.
At 854.6, North Miami’s violent crime rate is more than double the national rate, and close to twice that of the State of Florida’s violent crime rate.
Surprisingly, while still greater than the national and state violent crime rates, North Miami Beach’s rate of 647.6 is less than that of North Miami’s by 207 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Out of these four neighboring cities in northeast Miami-Dade County, it appears that North Miami has the highest violent crime rate and is the most dangerous in which to live.
Just saying.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
So, what do you propose as a solution ? NMB has recently had a spike in more violent crimes in the news. But I lived there 17 years until February 2014. For the most part it was uneventful in comparison to the news coverage I was reading and watching on local tv.
I don’t have a solution to propose. I’m not the chief of police. It’s his job to fight crime, not mine. I’m just laying out the facts based on actual crime statistics.
I solved the problem personally by moving to a city where they take things seriously, including law enforcement AND code enforcement – because the two really do go hand in hand. I’ve been saying that for years. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but criminals don’t seem to want to live in cities where the code is strictly enforced. Go figure.
Thank you, Stephanie, for this research. The numbers seem to conform to other facts about living in North Miami. Firstly, that top administration officials are deluded and self-promoting, while the facts on the ground illustrate their utter incompetence. These statistics should help support North Miami residents as we request that our City Manager find more competent police to lead the department. Its way past due that the police department also experience house cleaning as has the mayor and council seats.
And according to this webpage re-posted below, North Miami is the 20th most dangerous small city in the USA. I think all of us simply want a police force/Chief/leaders that actively have a plan and ability to deal with this, and officers who are given whatever tools and support they need to do their jobs*, and that should be the priority. (*I wonder now if the excellent officers there feel supported? I hope the culture there lets them speak up about needs? It seems that in any successful organization, there must be quality control and excellence seeking (and support for that from within too, not just from outside.)
Oh, you might be interested to know I saw a sign when coming back into North Miami, on 16th ave just before Gwen Margolis Center, it was an electric sign that said something to the effect *welcome to North Miami, your American city”** something I wish I had a photo of that I know you might appreciate having. Have a nice weekend up in Davie, what you say about code enforcement is interesting.
this was that link about most dangerous small cities according to http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/America-s-20-most-dangerous-small-cities-5361289.php
I can’t believe that North Miami is #20 on that list! Ahead of Opa-locka! Ahead of Miami Gardens! Ahead of North Miami Beach! (Okay, I’m not surprised about that last one, but damn!)
Unlike former North Miami Chief of Police/City Manager Stephen Johnson, and present Chief of Police Leonard Burgess, Aleem Ghany is a man of unquestioned honesty and character who has earned the respect of the community and those who work under him. Mr. Ghany, as City Manager, has the authority to remove Chief Burgess. It’s time to clean up the North Miami police department.
The residents of North Miami DESERVE a Chief of Police with a reputation of unquestioned honesty and character. Assistant Chief of Police Gary Eugene, a Haitian American, has been a police officer for over 30 years. “Gary holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Barry University, and an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Miami-Dade College. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Southern Police Institute (S.P.I.) in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Senior Management Institute for Police Executives (S.M.I.P.) at Harvard’s Kennedy School.” ttp://www.northmiamipolice.com/about_nmpd/command_staff/eugene_gary.asp
I urge residents of North Miami to voice their opinions by contacting their council members and the city manager.
City Manager Aleem Ghany:
aghany@northmiamifl.gov
Mayor Smith Joseph:
sjoseph@northmiamifl.gov
Councilman Scott Galvin—District 1:
scott@scott-galvin.com
Councilwoman Carol Keys—District 2:
ckeys@northmiamifl.gov
Councilman Philippe Bien-Aime—District 3:
Pbien-aime@northmiamifl.gov
Councilwoman Marie Steril—District 4:
msteril@northmiamifl.gov
Any word on the officer from NMB that was shot?