Crime trends and code violations in the Doral area dominated the deliberations of Doral Community Council (9) at its meeting of April 27, chaired by Jerome Howie, with all members in attendance.

Miami-Dade Police Lieutenant Gary Shimminger gave a comprehensive statistical run-down of crime during the January-March quarter in the Council 9 area, which includes Doral and its environs.

Particularly heartening is that the area's already low incidence of violent crime has dropped further since the start of the year. Robbery, the principal violent crime that does occur, was down for the first quarter of 2000 by 26 percent. The total number of robberies from January through March was 65.

Auto theft is the biggest crime problem for Doral residents and visitors, with the Miami International Mall in particular being a happy hunting ground for car thieves, according to Shimminger. Nonetheless, total cases dropped in the first quarter to 477, down 15 percent from last year. Vehicle burglary was off 21 percent as well.

Although home burglary levels have remained stationary, commercial burglary is up a dramatic 16 percent, a clear symptom of booming construction and dynamic business expansion in Doral.

Shimminger cited construction sites as, "a special problem. Typically they are poorly guarded and have minimal control over who and what comes and goes. So for example, air conditioners dropped in a driveway in the morning can be heisted by the afternoon."

Miami-Dade police recently formed a specialized unit to counter the growing problem of commercial burglary.

A major nuisance for police is the outrageous number of calls they receive, triggered by centrally monitored electronic burglar alarms, particularly in residences, that turn out to be false alarms.

The police district that encompasses Doral and Hialeah generates the greatest number of such calls by far. The false alarm rate, according to Shimminger, is an egregious 96 percent. Each call requires a house visit by a police officer, a clear waste of precious law enforcement resources.

Shimminger also reviewed policing practices. The district that includes Doral, a 298 square mile area, has about 170 uniformed officers who are patrolling and responding to calls. That number excludes detectives and various specialized details.

Ideally, there should be 210 such officers available to work the beat, but the shortage reflects today's tight labor market and the time required--about two years--to train a policeman to go out on patrol alone.

On any one shift then, there are between 50 and 60 patrolmen out and about, divided among four squads, one of which covers the Doral Park vicinity. Many of the policemen assigned to residential areas patrol on bikes, and they all have well defined territories of responsibility. The objective, of course, is to help them know what normally takes place there, in order to readily spot anything that is out of the ordinary.

Gated communities, in particular those where access is by electronic code only, can present several challenges. Shimminger noted that a number of community associations refuse to give police their gate codes, a decision he viewed as foolish.

According to Officer Manny Gonzalez, who was with Shimminger at the Council meeting, "This discourages policemen from trying to enter in order to conduct routine patrols and it can seriously impede an officer trying to respond to an emergency call."

Alexander Torres and Officer Yfrahin Rodriguez of Team Metro then reviewed code violations in detail. Illegal signage is the most common problem in the Doral area, but illegal dumping is the most pernicious, especially because of associated environmental concerns.

The vicinity of the Turnpike and NW 58 Street, just west of Doral Isles, is a common dumping ground. So are several other areas near major construction sites, particularly north of NW 58 Street and west of NW 107 Avenue. Several canals have turned into watery gravesites for stolen cars.

Part of what Officer Rodriguez patrols for are straightforward cases of illegal home alterations or remodeling without a permit. This sparked a great deal of interest among those attending the Council meeting, several of whom cited their annoyance at illegal construction in their own communities, such as neighbors cementing in their back yards.

Rodriguez urged anyone with a complaint to contact him, because he is the only officer inspecting in the entire Doral area for code violations, and residents in effect are his "eyes and ears." Only a building inspector can "red tag" a project under way, i.e. stop it in progress, but Rodriguez in turn knows where and how to refer any legitimate complaint.

Related to the Team Metro presentation, several Council members lamented the county's own folly in authorizing contractors to install benches at hypothetical bus stops where no buses run and the chutzpah of private businessmen in installing trash receptacles next to the benches that are custom-designed to carry illegal advertising.

For Council member Jose Cancio, the April 27 meeting may have been his last, because he has announced his decision to resign.

The next non-zoning Council meeting will be on June 22, 7:00 PM, at Ryder Elementary Charter School, 8360 NW 33 Street.