During a two-day crackdown this month, the Miami Police Department made 87 arrests for drugs, prostitution, gang activity and robberies.

“What you want to do is get these criminals off the street and continue with good, aggressive policing,’’ said Miami Major David Magnusson, who leads Operation Resilience.

Wednesday and Friday’s effort was aimed in Little Havana, Coconut Grove, Flagami and Coral Way.

It was the third in a series of operations to target crime in different parts of Miami since December.

A total of 308 arrests have been made, Magnusson said.

He believes that by targeting the most problematic areas, crime will improve significantly.

“You have to have bite-sized pieces,” Magnusson said.

“Let’s tackle this area and then move onto the next one.”

He is studying the crime rates of targeted areas five days before and after the sweeps.

“Almost without fail, especially with the more violent crime, it’s dropped,” he said.

Though the lowered crime only lasts for a few days at a time, the decrease makes a difference. Magnusson said that the long-term effect of these operations will help the city’s overall crime rates.

“If you can maintain it in these areas you will see a decline in crime,” he said.

Since the start of the operation, police have made 11 robbery arrests. And acccording to Magnusson, since one criminal can account for multiple robberies, each arrest means there is a significant drop in crime. “If you have 100 robberies, you’re going to have 15 to 20 offenders at most,” he said.

In addition to the criminal arrests, the city has also issued 1,603 tickets for running red lights and speeding.

The goal, he said, is to decrease accidents and injuries.

Magnusson said the Miami Police Department intends to continue the operations for the foreseeable future. “It’s a shock to the system in these crime areas,” Magnusson said.