Multi-Agency Marine Theft Task Force

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

ABSTRACT OF THE PROGRAMMiami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) Kendall District (KD) General Investigations Unit (GIU) Lieutenant Michael Barrios noticed the lack of information available when researching crime trends and reports. Initially, he assigned Detective Kaitlyn Grijalva from the KD Auto Theft Unit to be the exclusive watercraft theft investigator. Detective Grijalva conducted research on marine related thefts and learned that the State of Florida was the leading state for these thefts. Furthermore, Miami-Dade County leads the country on vessel and marine equipment related thefts. Lieutenant Barrios and Detective Grijalva hosted intelligence sharing meetings with a focus on marine related crimes. It became evident that the only way to successfully combat this genre of crime is to attack it via a collaborative effort from several agencies. Lieutenant Barrios presented the idea of creating the Multi-Agency Marine Theft Task Force (MAMTTF) to then MDPD Director Juan Perez and Kendall District Major Carmen Castro, who pledged their support. The KD GIU created a marine theft unit who became a central hub for watercraft theft investigations, not only in Miami-Dade County, but for the surrounding counties as well. On May 1, 2019, Lieutenant Barrios, Detectives Grijalva and Antonio Llaneras met with several law enforcement agencies to include: the Federal Homeland Security Bureau, the United States Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, City of Miami Police Department, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, and the Pinecrest Police Department. In attendance was Mr. Bruce Marx, founder of the South Florida Marina and Boat Watch Group Facebook page. Mr. Marx provided a plethora of information and had the support of over twelve thousand followers. Within a year, the MAMTTF conducted multiple investigations that led to several arrests and recovered over one hundred thousand dollars, worth of property. In one such case, where MDPD was the lead, the investigation resulted in the arrest of seven subjects involved in an organized theft ring that was responsible for the theft of over one million dollars in watercraft and equipment. South Florida is home to one of the nation’s largest boating communities, it is only fitting that law enforcement created the MAMTTF to address a growing crime trend within the community.