Last week’s Sunshine Meeting highlighted every department in the City of Coral Gables. Each department’s head provided updates to the mayor and all of the commissioners. A great deal of effort was put into all of the presentations, I will provide a few noteworthy highlights from the Public Safety presentation.
Fire Looking to Hire 11 New Firefighters
The Fire Department is in the final process of hiring 11 Firefighters/Paramedics. Five of the new hires are part of the hiring of 15 new Firefighter/Paramedics over the next 3 years. Also discussed was the new Fire Station 4, which will serve the gap between Fire Station 2 (Riviera Drive/US-1) and Fire Station 3 (Old Cutler Rd/Red Rd). Fire Station 4 should improve response time in the southern end of Coral Gables.
Fire Chief Gets Defensive Regarding Staffing
When Commissioner Castro questioned Chief De La Rosa regarding staffing and mutual aid, Chief De La Rosa appeared to be a bit defensive. While explaining the dependence on mutual aid to provide services to the City Beautiful, Chief De LA Rosa made it clear that it is within their policy to factor mutual aid into staffing. Mutual aid is an agreement between fire departments to help each other across jurisdictional boundaries. Both Commissioner Castro and Fernandez focused their questioning on whether the Coral Gables Fire Department was prepared to safely serve the community, especially with all of the current and future construction planned. Chief De La Rosa stated that if it was the will of the commission to up staffing, he would provide a plan to do so.
Police Lower Hiring Standards
When it was Chief Hudak’s turn to present, he provided the commissioners with a comprehensive recruitment plan and hiring analysis. While the plan outlined the department’s goals and strategies to enhance law enforcement capabilities, certain revisions within the recruitment process have raised concerns.
Lowered Psychological Exam – Suitable with Reservations
One of the most concerning aspects of the recruitment plan involved revisions to the psychological exam, which were implemented in January 2020. Prior to this revision, a significant number of police officer candidates, who had already received conditional offers of employment, were disqualified for failing to achieve a “Suitable” rating on the psychological exam. A “Suitable” rating used to be the only passing rating accepted. Now, non-certified police officer candidates are allowed to have a “Suitable with Reservations” rating on the psychological exam.
Since the implementation of this change in 2020, an alarming 40% of the new police officers received a Suitable with Reservations.
Only 11th Grade Education Required For Police
Another revision that has drawn attention is change in the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) requirement, which was revised in January 2023. Previously, non-certified police applicants without a bachelor’s degree were required to obtain at least a 12th-grade equivalent score in both the Language and Reading sections of the TABE. However, in an effort to broaden the pool of potential candidates, the police department lowered the requirement to an 11th-grade equivalent score.
While the intention behind these revisions may have been to increase the number of potential recruits and streamline the hiring process, some may wonder what the potential impact on the quality and preparedness of new officers. Is it a good idea to lower the psychological exam standards and educational requirements in a department that serves one of the most highly educated communities in South Florida?
Goal To Hire 15 Officers By End Of Year
Listed as part of the objectives is a recruitment goal to hire 15 additional officers by the end of 2023. With 2 retirements, 3 resignations, and 5 new positions added, the hiring department will have their work cut out for them. Chief Hudak also mentioned that he anticipates an additional 3 vacancies by the end of this month, bringing the total vacancies to 13.
Commissioner Fernandez asked Chief Hudak about what the Police Department is doing to retain officers? The question was pertinent considering the difficulty in hiring and the cost in training new hires. Hudak reiterated that it’s a constant battle and that officers are looking for the best packages. He also mentioned that the city is looking to up the three year commitment of new hires if the city puts them through the academy.
Crime Statistics
Chief Hudak provided a PowerPoint slide of the Year-to-Date statistics. A few quick notes:
- Burglary Residential were up +28% (2021-2022)
- Robberies were up +55%
- Theft of Vehicles were up +45%
- Theft of Auto Parts were up +110%
- Theft from Motor Vehicle were up +16%
- Theft of Bicycles were down -23%
- Theft of Other Vehicles were up +210%
Five Hour Meeting
The Sunshine Meeting lasted over 5 hours and as Commissioner Menedez stated, the last commisson meeting was 11 hours. The entire chambers appeared relieved once the meeting ended. The question remains if after the meeting the residents were relieved or concerned?
Is it me or Lago preoccupied during all meetings? He never is paying attention.