The ‘Murder Gardens’ name has haunted Miami Gardens. Now, the city’s crime rate has dropped
Miami Gardens experienced a drop in both murders and overall crime in 2020, according to the city’s police department, while murders in the county soared.
New data shows the number of homicides decreased by 33% while the rate of Part 1 Crimes, which include murder, burglary and forcible sex offenses, dropped 31%. Those numbers contrasted significantly with Miami-Dade, where the number of murders had jumped by nearly 31% near the end of 2020.
“We are truly proud of the dedication and hard work displayed by the men and women of the Miami Gardens Police Department,” Chief Delma Noel-Pratt said in a statement. “The reduction in overall crime in the city is a result of our combined efforts with our federal, state and local partners, as well as our vigilant residents.”
The city did not specify the exact number of murders in 2020. But records obtained through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed there were 18 murders with less than two weeks left in the year — down from 26 homicides in 2019. (The actual 2019 number was 27, according to Miami Gardens police, which reclassified a death previously counted as natural causes.)
With crime down, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation’s assessors recommended Miami Gardens police for accreditation in December 2020, the first recognition in the department’s 14-year history. Agencies like CFA serve as a check-and- balance system that ensures the department adheres to the highest standards of law enforcement. Their official accreditation is scheduled for February and will last for three years.
The recognition follows a turbulent year for law enforcement nationally. Protests erupted across the country as the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many more shined a new spotlight on the racial implications of police brutality. In Miami Gardens, an officer-involved incident led to his firing and criminal charges.
One of region’s largest majority African American cities, Miami Gardens was once deemed “Murder Gardens,” a moniker that emerged in the mid-2000s which critics say is rooted in unjust portrayals of Black communities. Since then, the city’s crime rate has dropped significantly due to increased policing efforts.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
