M MI IA AM MI I L LO OD DG GE E

F F R RA AT TE ER RN NA AL L O OR RD DE ER R O OF F P P O OL LI I C CE E
710 Southwest 12
th
Avenue. Miami, Florida 33130
Phone (305) 854-5019 Ortiz@fopmiami.com

Javier Ortiz Thomas Reyes
PRESIDENT SECRETARY

A Proud Tradition in Law Enforcement

June 24, 2014

North District Officer Safety Bulletin

As you are all aware, just a few blocks from the North Station, nearly a dozen people were shot in a gangland
style assault. We have reached a tipping point in the district where the criminal element has no fear of our
police officers and are beginning to act with impunity. There are several factors contributing to this. From
the lack of effective tactical units, unqualified leadership, to the devastating shortage of officers assigned to the
North End.

We cannot take a band-aid approach to this epidemic. Placing hot spot details or a uniformed motorcycle
officer standing at an intersection will not stop the killing of our children in the North District. We don't need
cops acting as "window dressing" in our city to make things appear to be safe. We need a viable solution. The
City of Miami Police has no street narcotics unit and a staffing crisis that results in daily drafts and districts
constantly operating at minimum staffing levels. The command staff in the North District consists of Sergeants,
who were politically promoted to their positions without any command experience. We need effective,
experienced leadership in these important positions in the North District.

The threat is not limited to the Liberty City neighborhood. Earlier in the evening, in Shorecrest, a homeowner
was brutally murdered in his home during a burglary. Based on our current clearance rate in homicide, the crime
will in all likelihood go unsolved. We are imploring officers that work the North District to remain safe. Back
each other up on calls. Treat every call as a potentially armed situation. Please resort back to your training and
experience and help each other out. Since we are not getting the resources and support from the City of Miami,
we now need to do it ourselves. Do not respond to calls that require two officers alone. If something should
happen to you, the City will say you didn't follow proper protocols by going by yourself. I know that we all
want to help out when there is that emergency call. However, you aren't of any value at that call if you get hurt
or killed. Let the call hold until you have back-up as stated in our departmental orders.

The Fraternal Order of Police will utilize every resource at our disposal to ensure that our officers can remain
safe throughout the City of Miami. We have reached out to District Five Commissioner Keon Hardemon in
order to find these much needed resources to keep us and our community safe. Until we receive the proper
compensation, benefits, and leadership, we will never be able to staff these areas to the levels that are required
to keep our community safe. Folks, people are getting killed in groups three blocks outside of our police station.
If this isn't a wakeup call to our stakeholders, I don't know what is. There is a reason why crime is down in
Coconut Grove and the rest of the city is seeing all their crime statistics increasing. Increased manpower and
resources throughout the City means safer communities.

Sergeant Javier Ortiz, President
Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #20