County Mayor Blames High Murder Rate on Turf War Between ‘Drug Gangs’

By Angie Hargot

Although overall Miami-Dade saw a decrease in crime, the county also saw a 37 percent increase in murders last year, according to a 2006 crime statistics report released Thursday. There were 89 murders countywide in 2006 – the highest rate in five years.

Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Miami-Dade County Police Department Director Robert Parker delivered the somber news to an array of TV cameras and reporters at a press conference held at the Miami-Dade Police Headquarters in Doral.

While the county’s 10-year homicide average is still on the decline, the five-year average has now risen 19 percent. Of those 89 homicides, 18 were domestic incidents, county police records stated.

Although Parker told reporters he “cannot definitively place a motive on most of these crimes,” Mayor Alvarez had a different explanation.

“We had a turf war between violent gangs,” Alvarez told the SunPost. “The gangs have been identified, but for six months in 2006 there was a war between drug gangs.”

Parker added that “unfortunately the weapon of choice is high-powered firearms in this community.” When asked about how individuals attain these weapons, his response was, “they buy them.” 

Alvarez remained optimistic about the steady decline in robberies all over the county. Although last year only saw a one percent decrease, the ten-year average for robberies in the county has been cut by more than half, the report shows. 

“Robbers are the most violent criminals out there, and robberies have gone down,” Alvarez said.

Particular attention was paid to “visitor robberies,” or robbery of tourists, which was down 36 percent from last year. There were only seven cases reported in 2006.

“I’m very happy with the overall [statistics],” he said. “Overall crime was reduced again for the tenth year in a row.”

Alvarez, the county’s former police director, was elected county mayor in 2004. This past January voters granted Alvarez the power to run the day to day affairs of county government, including the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Focusing on some more pleasant stats, “Violent and non-violent crimes are down all over Miami-Dade County,” Alvarez said. “The numbers really speak for themselves.”

Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson looked on as Alvarez fielded questions from reporters about her city’s attempts to lure police personnel into her newly formed police force with the promise of better pay and benefits.

“Are you a part of the collective bargaining agreement?” Alvarez asked the CBS4 reporter to the chagrin of a lot of cops and reporters. On a more serious note, he said the county is trying hard to keep qualified personnel on their force from leaving for better pay, remarking “one homicide is one too many.”