Miami Herald: Statewide Crime is Down

Our Crime Watch coordinator asked that we forward this on to those participating in our Crime Watch Program.  Although the overall crime rate for Miami Dade County went down by 4.1%, which includes burglaries & car thefts, robberies did go up a little.  This is still very good overall and these numbers can continue to go down if we stay alert.  As always, be aware of your surroundings and please report any suspicious activity to Police as soon as you observe it.


From: Alina LOPEZ <ALINA@citizenscrimewatch.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 12:36 PM
Subject: FW: Please share with your crime watchers...thank you!

Congratulations to all Crime Watchers for your efforts, you do make a difference. This is what happens when you work closely with your law enforcement partners! Thank you ALL…Click Here to read Miami Herald article.

Alina Lopez
Coordinator
Crime Prevention Practitioner
Citizens'/Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County
1515 NW 79th Avenue
Doral, Florida 33126
305-468-1304 office

305-470-1676 fax

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May 6th Board Meeting: Violation Policy & Procedure

At Devon-Aire Villas # 1, most owners maintain their homes and its surroundings relatively well by making sure that their homes are painted every few years, roofs are maintained, lawns mowed, trashcans are never left out after trash day, etc...  There are some homes however were owners may need some work done or some other reminder and usually a letter from our Property Manager is all that is needed to correct a problem.  There are some cases however where a homeowner simply ignore these letters.  Over the years, the cost of sending letter after letter along with legal demands requesting compliance have been costly and time consuming.  These costs are eventually passed on to all homeowners through their annual assessment.  In an effort to cut down on those costs, the Board of Directors will review a new Violation Policy & Procedure in an effort to streamline the process as well as cut costs by limiting the amount of letters sent out before legal remedies are pursued.  This new policy will make use of Florida Statute 720.305(2) which allows for the imposition of fines.  On April 14th a draft copy of this new policy & procedure was mailed out to all homeowners for review.  The Board of Directors will vote on adoption in the May 6th meeting and ask homeowners who may have comments or concerns to attend.  If you can not attend, please submit your comments or concerns by emailing us using the Contact Us page on our website.

The Board of Directors understands that violation notices are never a welcome sight for homeowners and will actively work with homeowners who contact us asking for help in addressing their issue.  We ask that if any homeowner receiving a notice has an issue with any letter they receive, please do not ignore the correspondence and instead Contact Us by email or by phone.  By addressing a notice early will ensure that there are no unnecessary escalations or misunderstandings.

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The Importance of Crime Watch

Recently some residents have been reporting suspicious activity to MDPD and us regarding locations on the West side guest parking areas.  This is exactly how Crime Watch is supposed to work.  What we don't want is for folks to stop being engaged.  It is easy to forget the rash of burglaries we had in our community more than a year ago.  Recently an article appeared in the Miami Herald regarding a spate of recent burglaries at The Crossings.  Although The Crossings has an established Crime Watch, residents have become passive and less engaged with their neighbors and surroundings.  This has Police in the area frustrated.  Please don't let that happen here.  Get to know your neighbors and when you notice something suspicious, please call Police.  You can follow up later and Contact Us to let us know what you reported to them.  Some of these reports are distributed to those of you on the Crime Watch distribution list.  If it is serious enough, we will contact homeowners in the affected area for which we have phone numbers.  The more we watch our surroundings, the less likely crime will want to stick around.

Click Here to read the Miami Herald article.

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