‘We are there to serve': Miami nonprofit hired to provide security at public housing complex
In order to reduce crime and foster positive relationships in the community, the management of the Buena Vista public housing complex contracted the local nonprofit which focuses on community policing rather than use private security or hiring off-duty police officers.
The Liberty City public housing development has employed the nonprofit, which works to reduce crime in Black communities in Miami through mentorship and crime prevention tactics, since December. The organization formally announced the partnership at a press conference earlier this week. The press conference coincided with the University of Chicago's crime lab Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy's graduation ceremony in Miami. The academy trains leaders in violence intervention with the goal of reducing gun violence.
'If community violence intervention becomes an equal part of the public safety ecosystem, we can drastically reduce crime and violence,' Lyle Muhammad, executive director of Circle of Brotherhood who is also a graduate of the leadership academy, told the Miami Herald. 'We know. We have a formula that works.'
Created in 2013, the Circle of Brotherhood is an organization led predominantly by Black men that works to address the issues of gun violence in Miami through community service, conflict resolution and educational services.
Buena Vista, formerly known as Lincoln Fields, was built in 1946, according to property records. Residents have suffered from the property's poor living conditions in recent years and rampant crime. The 214-unit property is home to nearly 300 people, and has worked with nonprofits such as Overtown Youth Center to provide family and youth-centered services.
Joined Development, which owns the development, hired the organization after five private security firms declined to provide security at the public housing development, Muhammad said. 'They are trusting a new process of reforming and transforming a community and not just doing business as usual,' he said. Buena Vista's property manager did not respond to a request for comment.
Overtown Youth Center CEO Tina Brown connected the Circle of Brotherhood with Joined Development after recognizing a need for community policing.
'Our goal was really to ensure that residents felt that they had a voice and services that were very much needed,' Brown said. 'However, there were a lot of challenges with safety and security in this particular housing development.'
Brown said when some crimes occurred, residents did not feel comfortable calling police or were scared to report a crime out of a perceived 'no snitch policy.' 'It was creating a tremendous amount of safety concerns for other residents, and that's why the Circle of Brotherhood was really sought out for things like that,' she said.
Muhammad said his security guards call themselves community safety servants and work in three shifts, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., with three people assigned to each shift. The goal is to engage deescalation tactics during confrontations and build community. They are also trained to administer CPR and first aid.
'We are not there in antagonistic policing mode. We are there to serve,' he said.
In the three months since Circle of Brotherhood was contracted, Muhammad said they have had some successes. But he said it's more than just deescalating crime, it's engaging with youth in the community. During Spring Break, the organization offered a week of activities that included swimming and field trips.
Muhammad said having such activities builds trust in the community and prioritizes treating people with respect, even when handling illicit activity.
'We treat every individual situation as an isolated incident, but we are trained,' Muhammad said.
'The respect of the credible messengers and the individuals that we have, coupled with their training, allows us to, prayerfully, be able to always respond appropriately,' he said.
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