Miami's police union is getting ready to vote on whether they have confidence in Chief Art Acevedo as a citizens panel began its probe into the complaints filed.
Early Tuesday morning, Miami-Dade Police responded to a Brownsville crime scene. They found two victims of a drive-by shooting and 88 bullet casings left for homicide detectives to clean up.
That same day, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners met to discuss a multimillion-dollar gun violence prevention plan created by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava s office.
Only a day earlier, violence also erupted in South Dade, as officers rushed to respond to a domestic-related murder-suicide at an apartment complex in Homestead. Desmond Owens, 26-year-old victim of the El Mula Banquet Hall shooting.(Courtesy of the Owens Family)
The urgency to deploy $7.2 million through the mayorâs Peace and Prosperity Plan comes while Miami has been overwhelmed by bloodbaths for nearly two consecutive weeks, leaving at least 13 people dead and more than 40 injured.
At Miamiâs South Pointe Park on Sunday, 13-year-old Egyptia Green led a rally in remembrance of George Floyd, nearly a year after she organized her first Black Lives Matter protest. Egyptia Green holds up a Black Lives Matter sign to protest the death of George Floyd at a rally she organized last summer./Egyptia Green via Facebook
Green s activism was inspired by the viral video footage of the modern-day lynching where 46-year-old Floyd fell victim to police brutality, which pulled back the curtain to reveal a driving force of the nation since before it declared its independence in 1776 â racism.
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A bill enacting statewide police reform still awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis signature, though it isn t clear what effect, if any, it will have on South Florida.
At the same time, Miami-Dade County is getting closer to finally forming a long-awaited civilian oversight board tasked with investigating allegations of abuse committed by Miami-Dade Police Department officers.
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Called HB 7051, the police reform bill will create statewide standards that will ban the use of chokeholds by police except in situations involving immediate injury and death. It also requires a duty for police to intervene if a fellow officer uses excessive force. It mandates independent reviews for use-of-force incidents involving deaths, and requires police to give medical aid if needed. The bill also requires police department applicants to declare if they are being investigated for wrongdoing, will require the creation of standards for de-escalation and mental health training, and forbid the arres