By Jesús Hernández
After serving as executive director of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and chief of public safety in Miami-Dade, James Reyes looks forward to being elected sheriff.
The primary election for the post is scheduled for Aug. 20th.
-Safety is the main concern. What do you plan to do to make the community even safer?
We always have to prioritize public safety. I’m committed to making sure that our public safety is always a priority. It’s a right that all our citizens have in our community. In addition to that, we need to increase communication between the community and our organization. Also, I’m committed to establishing a public corruption unit that’s truly independent of county government within the first 30 days of taking office.
-According to Miami-Dade County, the crime rate is stable, but higher than the national average. How do you plan to change that?
Right now, I’m proud that we have one of the lowest violent and gun violence rates in any metropolitan area.
However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have opportunities to improve on reducing that crime rate, and I think we need to invest more in our community policing and redistribute some of the resources we currently have and also take a broader approach to community policing because public safety is not only my responsibility as the chief of public safety right now or the responsibility just of our officers. It’s the responsibility of all of us.
-We have over 30 different local police departments in Miami-Dade County. What’s your plan as far as working with all of them?
I look forward to not only building but maintaining the relationships I currently have with local law enforcement and leveraging those relationships to not only keep our county safe but keep the residents of those specific communities safe.
-The criminal justice system is complex, and sometimes officers complain about criminals going home too soon.
We have different responsibilities in terms of the state attorney’s office, public defender’s office, and our judiciary system. I tell everyone, being a sheriff goes way above just enforcing the laws. It’s serving as the conscience of the community. And that is a true philosophical difference. Another major difference, the sheriff’s going to be looked at as a leader within the criminal justice process. And he or she will be able to leverage their positions to express their voice, express their concerns regarding how the criminal justice process and system is impacting public safety locally.
-Some residents complain about police officers’ stopping on the road and obstructing the traffic, instead of pulling to the side, when we already have a traffic situation in the County. What can you do about that?
We’ve already been in discussion internally about that and making sure that on day one we establish a committee internally, based on the experience here in Miami-Dade County of how we can better address our traffic challenges. And we have subject matter expertise at Miami-Dade Police Department that will be retained and will be present when we transition to the sheriff’s office that we are looking forward to redistributing resources to so that we can have a positive impact on our traffic situation here locally.
