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The Department of
Code Enforcement began the Quality of Life Task
Force, a multi-agency effort aimed at making the
City of Miami streets safer, and our parks and
neighborhoods cleaner. Below are several quality
of life programs that the Department of Code
Enforcement has implemented in an effort to
improve the quality of life in our
neighborhoods:
The Department of Code
Enforcement, along with Police, Fire, Law and
GSA Departments, has been conducting an
operation to crack down on illegal activity
taking place in cafeterias throughout the City.
In addition to administering a substantial
amount of code enforcement violations, the task
force has also made several arrests for crimes
including prostitution, possession or sale of
narcotics (including cocaine), and underage
drinking. Eight-hundred grams of cocaine was
seized in just one of these cafeterias and
at another establishment, a subject with an
$800,000 out-of-state warrant for trafficking in
dangerous drugs was arrested.
As part of this effort, the task force conducted
an operation targeting illegal gambling machines
at these cafeterias. The team collected 318
illegal gambling machines and police
distributed a total of 79 arrest citations.
In addition, some of the gambling machines
seized through the operation belonged to
corporations owned and operated by individuals
suspected to be involved in an organized crime
racketeering group operating in multiple states.
As part of this case, a federal indictment
was issued on 25 individuals that were part of a
$1 billion criminal organization including one
who is suspected of being responsible for dozens
of deaths and organizing a 2,500-person
bookmaking and gambling operation.
• Total # of businesses inspected: 1083
• Total # of police arrests: 1148
• Total # of code enforcement citations: 21,008
• Total amount in fines
from code enforcement violations: $551,000
• Total # of Fire Department Violations: 1736
• Total # of Building Department violations:
576
• Total # of Division of Alcoholic Beverages and
Tobacco cases: 44 (10 warning letters)
The goal of this
initiative is to cite and collect abandoned,
inoperable, and untagged vehicles throughout the
City of Miami. The project seeks to improve the
appearance of the City’s neighborhoods as well
as decrease the crimes that occur inside and
around deserted vehicles, such as drug use and
prostitution. It was launched in July 2003, and
is a coordinated
effort between Code Enforcement and police
officers. The Department of Code Enforcement has
been administering the project since December
03.
• Total # of abandoned car cases since July,2003:
4,312
•Amount
of abandoned car cases handled by the Department
of Code Enforcement : 997
There are a number of City residents who repair
vehicles from their homes, without a license.
Code Enforcement has been working to crack down
on this type of activity as it is a violation of
City regulations and has serious environmental
and visual consequences for surrounding
neighborhoods.
• Total # of illegal mechanical repair cases
since December, 2003: 134
Illegal Units:
There are residential properties throughout the
City with multiple, illegal additions. These
properties are not only in violation of City
code, but those residences with three or more
illegal units create an eye sore in the middle
of neighborhoods as property owners often create
mini-parking lots in front and tenants overflow
trash bins. For these very reasons, Code
Enforcement has made a concerted effort to cite
property owners with illegal units.
• Total # of Illegal Units violations since
December, 2003: 698
In certain areas of the City, there is a
concentration of chickens wandering along
neighborhood streets. Since April 2003, a joint
team of Firefighters, Code Enforcement Officers,
and NET personnel has dedicated time (once a
month) to ridding neighborhoods of these
chickens. Because of this operation, it has
become evident that loose chickens are much more
of a problem than anticipated, with captured
chickens numbering in the thousands. Captured
chickens are sold to farms in Homestead and the
proceeds go to charities in the City (including
the Mayor’s Holiday Celebration). The
newly-formed Department of Code Enforcement
continues this coordinated effort.
• Total # of chickens caught, since April,
2003: 6427
• Total amount of revenue
from sold chickens since April, 2003: $10,650
Enforcement of the City’s code as it relates to
illegal dumping is an essential element in the
City’s efforts to clean up Miami. Code
Enforcement has been working with the Police
Department to penalize those who vagrantly dump
trash on empty lots throughout the City. Much of
this trash comes from businesses or individuals
who do not even reside within the City.
Code Enforcement has also put effort into
enforcing violations of other solid waste
related regulations such as the placement of
dumpsters.
• Total # of solid waste citations since
December, 2003: 653,541
Code Enforcement continues to enforce
regulations that aim at keeping the City looking
pristine. As such, code enforcement officers
have also targeted:
• Junk in yards: Total # of cases since
December, 2003: 495
• Façade violations: Total # of cases since
December, 2003: 403
• Vacant and Unsecured properties: Total # of
cases since December, 2003: 234
In February 2004, the Department of
Code Enforcement launched the Tax Revenue Task
Force with the goal of locating and citing
unlicensed businesses throughout the City. As
part of this operation, Code Enforcement
Officers visit businesses with the license
applications in hand. If a business does not
have proper licensing, the owner is asked to
fill out the application and pay the fee on the
spot. In just the first 10 weeks of this
operation, Code Enforcement has collected
over a quarter of a million dollars.
• Total amount
collected from unlicensed businesses:
$1,827,693
Last Revision: September 2005
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