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Neighborhood & Friends

FLPD Chief’s Update

Greetings Rio Vista and

Lauderdale Harbors neighbors.

e had a great 2018, but that does not mean we are going to rest. We
endeavor to continue the downward crime trends, increase community
Wengagement and improve the quality of life in your neighborhoods and
throughout the City of Fort Lauderdale.
I would like to start by relaying some crime statistics for 2018. The official crime
rates that are published by the FBI are only out for the first six months of 2018 and
we are proud to announce a 14.5% decrease. Our unofficial numbers for the entire
year include a 3% decrease in violent crime, a 10% decrease in property crime and
a 9% decrease in crime overall. Our arrests have also increased by 20% and our
crime clearance rate has also increased by 7%.
Rick Maglione I am also proud to announce that the homeless encampment downtown is gone and
Chief of Police all of the folks that resided there have been placed in housing. This humanitarian
effort was accomplished without a single arrest. We know we have a long way to
go to address the problem of homelessness, but this was a great start. On January 9,
2019, we also held our first session of the Community Court. This court is specifically
to address the special circumstances that affect our homeless neighbors, and the
‘sentences’ are custom tailored to each person’s needs. There is also a community
service component of each case so each ‘defendant’ will be giving back to the City.
Lastly, I would like to add a few words about a $100 million bond issue for a new
police headquarters that will be going before the voters on March 12, 2019. My
intent here is to educate, not to advocate, but I would like to provide a few facts.
Our current facility was constructed in 1958 when we had a population of about
80,000 residents and under 100 police officers. Sixty years later, our population
exceeds 185,000 full time residents, but we serve well over 300,000 people on an
average each day. We now employ approximately 530 police officers and
approximately 200 civilian community builders. We are still in that 1958 building
that is currently 85,000 square feet. We also have an undersized parking lot that
floods even when we receive moderate rainfall. We spend countless taxpayer dollars
on repairs and leases on other properties just to keep the building operational,
conduct certain training, provide necessary office space and store our property and
evidence. The building is not equipped to handle modern technology that limits our
ability to efficiently utilize things such as our body worn cameras and our real time
crime center. Our current building cannot withstand major hurricane force winds and
we actually had to completely evacuate the building when Category 5 Hurricane
Irma had us in her sights.

22 rio vista civic association • www.riovistaonline.com