MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County’s Community Relations Board is working to better prepare police officers with critical skills in hopes of helping members of the community.
The board came together to discuss several topics at a meeting, Thursday, with racial bias and profiling being a top concern after the incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks where a manager called police on two black men who were waiting for a business partner without ordering anything.
“I’m sure if you ask, most people in Miami-Dade County have experienced some sort of racial profiling or they have seen somebody being profiled based on their race,” said Gus Varreiro, incoming chair of the CRB.
Following protests at the store, Starbucks eventually closed 8,000 stores for a day of racial sensitivity training.
The CRB said the goal is to now work with businesses to prevent a similar incident from happening here in South Florida.
“Maybe we can do some sensitivity training, working along with law enforcement as a partner to educate these businesses on when to utilize law enforcement and when not to utilize law enforcement,” said Varreiro.
With summer just around the corner, the board is also focusing on South Florida’s youth and working to prevent kids from getting into trouble.
“Well, they say that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop,” said Miami-Dade Police Chief Ariel Artime, who is also a member of the CRB. “I think it’s important that we keep the kids occupied with constructive things, rather than destructive things.”
From helping them find jobs to getting them involved in youth activities, the hope is to keep them busy.
The CRB and police now hope their ideas can prevent crimes during the summer months, such as a shooting involving Miami Northwestern Senior High School students that left one 10th grade student dead.
“It’s important that we give them things to do that make it a productive summer, to keep them out of trouble, keep them out of harm’s way,” said Artime.
The next step is to take all the information discussed at the meeting and present it to county leaders.
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