Miami, .- Cases like the shooting in which was injured on Thursday a teenager in Homestead is the center of the new policy of Miami-Dade County that activated this week a curfew to protect the lives of children under 17 as part of the Intervention Group against Violence (GVI).
To inform of the curfew for teenagers, the promoter of the measure, the president of the Miami-Dade Commission, Audrey M. Edmonson, promoted the installation of billboards this week after several shootings during the last weekend that left at least four dead.
According to the commissioner, it is an existing ordinance that was not being applied in the county and seeks to protect minors from violence with weapons such as the minor shot early this morning in front of their home in Homestead, which is “stable”, according to the last medical part.
The GVI, which has been implemented in other cities across the nation, said Edmonson, is designed to reduce homicides and violence with guns from street groups.
In Miami-Dade the curfew operates between 11 pm and 6 am from Sunday to Friday, and between midnight and 6 am on the weekend.
The idea of the GVI initiative, with an initial budget of two million dollars, is to “reduce crime overnight and provide care, security and protection to minors and other residents,” the Miami County government said. Dade
He explained that the Police Department will enforce the measure this week and that children who are in violation of the curfew “will receive prevention services from the Department of Youth Services.”
In addition to the Police, Edmonson called on “key players” to join the new group, including community organizations, clergy, social service providers and the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Services Department “to bring the peace and security to our neighborhoods. “
“This will not work unless the community helps us,” said Carlos Giménez, mayor of the county.
Over the weekend, a shootout in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood left three dead, in an incident described as murder-suicide.
There was also a double shooting in Miami Gardens leaving two men in the hospital, and another victim who died in Opa-Locka.
The commissioner explained that GVI is based on an initiative established in Boston during the 1990s that has been launched in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, Oakland and Baltimore.
“GVI has managed to reduce deaths by firearms when the affected community takes charge of the problem and becomes part of the solution,” he said. (EFEUSA)
