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JUNE 8 - 14, 2010
New programs target growing crime issues Officers catch subjects C in act, receive honors
BY RICHARD YAGER
Miami-Dade Solid Waste Dept. urges customers to prepare
ombating neighborhood crimes in Kendall is getting a helping hand from MiamiDade County State Attorney Katharine Fernandez Rundle’s office. A newly developed database program will identify individuals now appearing as firsttime offenders at overnight bail bond hearings and often routinely released, lacking a detailed record of previous arrests, according to Melia B. Arnett, an assistant state attorney for a newly formed Community Prosecution Unit. Arnett appeared May 26 before the MiamiDade Police Kendall District’s Citizens Advisory Committee and is scheduled to provide program details to the Hammocks District CAC at its June 30 meeting. The ID program was announced in May along with START (Stop Think Ask React Tell), a cooperative effort with Miami-Dade Schools to educate children from a prosecutorial viewpoint about alternatives to violence and crime. Both districts’ CAC members have reported
BY GAYLE LOVE
W
Honored for service during Kendall CAC meeting are (l-r) CAC chair Barry White; Miami-Dade Police Officers Lazaro Daniel and Manuel Castineira, and Maj. Michael Herrera, district commander. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
BY RICHARD YAGER
Assistant State Attorney Monica Gordo (standing) explains new identification database while CAC chair Barry White and Maj. Michael Herrera listen.
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CRIME, page 4
It’s a rarity to catch a crime in progress. That’s why chair Barry White pointed with special pride to two Miami-Dade Police Kendall District officers during a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting on May 26. “The theft of vehicle tires and rims has plagued the community in recent months,” White said. “Subjects are able to commit these crimes and flee without being detected.” White and Maj. Michael A. Herrera, Kendall District commander, later listened for nearly an hour as several neighborhood homeowner association
members told of increased juvenile activity in their areas, and asked for heightened surveillance in the district during school vacation months. Officers Manuel Castineira and Lazaro Daniel were honored for their special performance while on community surveillance just after 1 a.m. on Mar. 3, responding to a call near SW 63rd Avenue and 37th Street by parking several houses from the address. Approaching on foot, the officers nabbed three subjects stealing rims off vehicle wheels. The subjects “immediately taken into custody without incident.” For their excellence in handling the incident, the two officers were given citations as April 2010 Officers of the Month.
ith hurricane season already here, the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) reminds its customers to get rid of unwanted trash now. DSWM customers shouldn’t wait to dispose of household trash — especially yard waste — until a hurricane is headed towards Miami-Dade, said Solid Waste director Kathleen Woods-Richardson. “Now is the time to get rid of the clutter and yard waste at your home and keep it off the curb and out of your yard, where hurricane winds can turn these items into projectiles,” Woods-Richardson said. Miami-Dade residents who live in the DSWM service area — which includes unincorporated Miami-Dade County as well as Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest — can dispose of household trash, bulky items and tree cuttings at one of the county’s conveniently located Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Centers (TRCs). The TRCs are open daily from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Area locations include: Snapper Creek, 2200 SW 117 Ave.; Sunset Kendall, 8000 SW 107 Ave.; Chapman Field, 13600 SW 60 Ave.; Richmond Heights, 14050 Boggs Dr.; West Perrine, 16651 SW 107 Ave.; Eureka Drive, 9401 SW 184 St.; South Miami Heights, 20800 SW 117 Ct., and Moody Drive, 12970 SW 268 St. Customers also can call 3-1-1 to request
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PREPARE, page 4