Utopia Homeowners Security Association – Page 25

Caution: Increased Car Break-ins around Utopia

Nearby neighborhoods reported two incidents in the past week involving theft from motor vehicles.

The following was reported to Utopia Security Association by members and neighbors. Fortunately no members were affected.

1. Sharon (lives on Douglas, between Crawford and Poinciana) reports that an incident occurred in her driveway “My brother and his family were here for 10 days. On Sunday we packed the truck with their luggage and were inside for about 20 minutes before we left. Everything was stolen. They lost jewelry, computers, other electronics and all their clothes.”

2. Karen (3700 block of Solana) reports another incident: “Yesterday my car was opened, and things were stolen from there. Nothing valuable but the fact that people are around stealing in broad daylight right in front of your door is worrisome. Let all know please.”

In each of these cases, it seems that belongings were left unattended and unsecured. Please realize that many property crimes are a crime of opportunity.

Be aware of your surroundings.
Report suspicious activity.
Secure your belongings.
Do not leave valuables in your car and hide them from visibility.
Place valuables and packages in your trunk before arriving at your parking location.
Lock your vehicle.

The presence of uniformed Miami Police officers and marked police vehicles patrolling inside the Utopia boundaries is a significant deterrent to criminals. Additionally, our watchful residents report suspicious activities to the on duty security officers who in turn investigate anything suspicious. Please ask your neighbors to join so we can increase our patrol coverage. Our goal is 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Help keep Utopia safe!

Help Stop Zika – Call 311

If you would like to help stop the spread of Zika, a mosquito transmitted virus that causes birth defects, make a quick call to 311 and ask for the free mosquito spraying for your yard.

It’s quick and easy. As of Friday mosquito control was the first option on the 311 menu. You’ll be transferred to a call center where they will take your name, phone and address and give you a confirmation number. Within about a week, mosquito control experts will contact you for an inspection of your property to help you locate standing water that can breed mosquitoes. If they find a mosquito problem, they will spray and attempt to empty any standing water that may be harboring the nasty little creatures.

It’s important to realize the disease carrying mosquitoes need only a small amount of standing water to breed. Items as unobtrusive as potted plants, and especially bromeliads hold small amounts of water which provide a natural breeding ground for these dangerous varieties of mosquito. A couple things you can try yourself to control the dangerous mosquitoes:

Drain standing water and cover the containers
Use mosquito larva bait (mosquito dunks) in places that constantly refill like bromeliads, bird baths, and potted plants (environmentally safe)
Call 311 and schedule a yard inspection and mosquito spraying

If enough people call from our neighborhood, the city may use spray trucks to cover the whole neighborhood. Be part of the solution. Stop Zika in its tracks!

These products kill mosquito larva before they hatch into flying mosquitoes and do so safely. The Mosquito dunks introduce a bacteria to the water that is fatal only to mosquito larva. Its quick, environmentally safe, and organic. More about how this works in the video below:

Grove Crime Statistics Update

Dear residents and Crime Watchers,

In the past few weeks, I have seen several resident’s posts on sites such as NextDoor recounting incidents taking place in our Grove neighborhoods. Since I assumed the responsibility of providing police services for the Grove in July 2013, I have made it my personal mission to increase communications with our residents to allow for greater transparency. My efforts include the engagement of our community via meetings, emails, and yes, even the NextDoor app. I have encouraged our residents to report every single incident that impacts our community and directed them to Crimemapping.com, where you can search for crimes in the Grove. I wanted to take an opportunity to reassure our community that Coconut Grove is safer now that it has been at any time in the past decade. I searched and compared the crime stats for the last ten years to give you a glimpse at how our crime prevention efforts have impacted the level of reported crime in Coconut Grove. I know you will appreciate the effort our team puts forth each and every day to keep our community safe. Reductions were experienced in every category, but most impressive is that when compared to 2006, Robberies were reduced 86%, and Burglaries went down 67%.

Grove Crimes from January 1 to July 15th
Year	Assault and Battery	Robbery	Stolen Cars	Burglary	Car Break ins	Theft	Shop lifting
2006	187	60	62	162	253	264	28
2007	171	72	73	127	235	264	40
2008	186	66	79	127	340	237	61
2009	140	48	35	164	274	185	33
2010	128	34	29	104	245	178	42
2011	106	26	35	117	264	161	39
2012	105	43	28	126	218	216	47
2013	99	43	27	98	201	202	59
2014	82	33	39	95	227	149	60
2015	85	18	20	72	171	162	47
2016	84	8	20	54	173	115	28

The numbers speak for themselves, and the results are impressive, but there is still room for improvement. I know that stats offer little consolation to the resident that has been victimized, and I promise to continue to work arduously to make our community safer each and every day. I want to improve in the area of car break-ins, so please remember to park properly and secure your vehicle by removing valuables and locking all doors. Please share with your neighbors.

Thank You and be safe, and I hope to see you at our next crime watch meetings.

Commander Manuel A. Morales

Coconut Grove NET

Miami Police Department

South District Substation

2200 West Flagler St.

Miami, FL. 33135

Office 305-643-7170

Mobile 786-300-1479

Twitter @CGCommanderMo

Crime Update from Commander Morales: Guns, Drugs, Fireworks, Theft

On Tuesday, our units were conducting an anti-gun violence operation in the Village West and received information about a suspect that was delivering drugs to the Grove. The units were able to apprehend WM Ilitch Munoz for sale of cocaine. The investigation revealed the suspect was armed with a .357 revolver and was also in possession of steroids. The officers were surprised to learn that the suspect had used his job as an Uber driver to solicit drug buyers. I am extremely proud of our units for taking a gun off our streets.

As the above incident was developing, I received a call from a resident on Coconut Ave in the Center Grove. He advised that a suspicious male was looking into vehicles. Units responded to the area and were able to contact BM James Taylor. The officers were able to develop probable cause to effect the arrest. A record check revealed Mr. Taylor has been previously arrested for breaking into cars. Kudos to the alert resident that diligently called the police and likely prevented a crime in our community.

A few moments ago, one of our grove units on a traffic detail conducted a stop of an individual for a moving violation at Grand Ave and Matilda. The alert officer detected a strong smell of marijuana, he investigated a little deeper and discovered a sizable amount of marijuana. The offender was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell.

In closing, I have received numerous calls from concerned residents about the continuing explosions and fireworks rocking our community for the past few weeks and I am aware of the disruption it is causing. Our units have saturated the area but have failed to locate the perpetrators. I have tasked one of our supervisors and his team to employ the use of undercover vehicle to covertly search for the offenders. Rest assure that our team will continue to seek the violators until we can restore peace and quiet to our community. If you know who is responsible please call 911 or send me a direct message.

A final reminder to Park Smart – park your car in a safe location, remove all valuables and LOCK your doors.

Stay Safe.
Cmdr. Manny Morales