I was surprised to learn that there is a crime wave happening in Pinecrest.

Had it not been for a group of upset residents that attended this month’s  Pinecrest council meeting to discuss their concerns regarding the recent rash of home burglaries in north Pinecrest. I may never have known ( unless I to became a victim) that my area of Pinecrest is currently experiencing an increase in home burglaries. I was dumbfounded as I sat through that evening’s council meeting.  Nearly two hours after the first residents spoke about their neighborhood robberies,  another group of neighbors who had come on a zoning hearing, to oppose a Hertz rent-a-car at the Dadeland South shopping center eluded to burglaries in there neighborhood.  They matter-of-factly spoke of how they thought that dumpsters up against the wall that separates their homes from the shopping center had facilitated the recent rash of burglaries in their neighborhood.  I was astounded that not one council member questioned or made a connection between the burglaries discussed earlier in the evening and the ones mentioned a that point.  No one seems to be grasping the significance of all these burglaries.  Incorporation was about police and our safety.

Unquestionably, Pinecrest residents feel an added sense of protection with our local police presence.  Statistics prove that there has been a dramatic decrease in crime in Pinecrest since our police department came on line.  Nevertheless,  I agree with the suggestion that in general, there is a false feeling of security.  Not only are some residents victims of  random burglaries, but I share a sense of frustration of also being a victim of a false sense of security.

Many residents feel that there is a concerted effort on the part of the Village management to be very low key about disclosing crime in Pinecrest, especially home burglaries.  Is this merely a perception or is there a defacto policy of the Village management and police department not to “air the dirty laundry” of crime in our Village?  If this is the case, this mentality may be good for real estate values, but it is a disservice to the residents of our community.

I question why the community has not been alerted.  A fundamental element of a “crime watch” is communication among neighbors. The biggest advantage to a burglar is the unsuspecting or complacent target. One of the victims put it best  when she said, “I read the Pinecrest Tribune and the Miami Herald every week and I had no idea that there has been an organized group of burglarers working my Pinecrest neighborhood and that I was the third home within a two block area of Suburban Drive to have been robbed within two weeks.”  She went on to say that had she known, she would not have left all her valuables and sentimental items in the safe that the burglars carried off.

Our new Police Chief Hohensee, who will start on December 6th, has a great opportunity to implement a new policy of community awareness.  Since becoming aware of the robberies,  I have taken a more pro-active attitude around my own home. At the very least, a synopsis of Pinecrest’s police reports should appear in the Miami Herald’s Neighbors’ crime watch section, along with the other cities’ reports.  It’s an alert call to every reader. The Village’s policy of not facilitating the gathering of police reports by neglecting to fax them in to the Neighbors, needs to change.  There also continues to be an open invitation to the police department, the Village manager as well as any staff member to use the Pinecrest Tribune as an outlet for information within our community.  ( At no cost, of course.) 

Perhaps, at the very least, the police department should give victims an information flyer.  The flyer could direct them to alert neighbors and to take simple precautions, like storing valuables in a room other than the master bedroom.

Chief Hohensee, it is not unreasonable for the citizens of this community to expect a more pro-active police department and you have the perfect opportunity to bring a new style of management, one that will enhance our police department and make this a safer community.

Follow-up——the cause of the foul odor along Red Road has been determined.  The culprit——a vine appropriately named Sewer Vine, with small flowers that release an unpleasant odor.  The vine is rare and is growing on the Matheson Hammock property that abuts the canal.  There will be an eradication effort.

I can be reached at 305-666-7969 or via fax, 305-666-8487.