Crime Watch salutes community leaders
BY CARMEN CALDWELL
Special to 
Posted on Sun, June 8, 2008
This past week, we at Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade celebrated our 33rd annual Awards Ceremony to recognize those who have helped make a difference in our community. It was an exciting night, with more than 450 people in attendance.
Our thanks to County Commissioner Joe Martinez, our honorary event chairman, a passionate supporter and executive board member; Brian Andrews, our master of ceremonies and a great friend who came in from Bogotá; and Kimberly J. Dalferes, keynote speaker and former national director of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America.
Our own Crime Watch chairman from the Intracoastal District, the Rev. Robert Moss, gave a moving invocation, remembering Officers Jose Somohano and James Walker, who were killed in the line of duty.
We are grateful to County Mayor Carlos Alvarez for coming out to offer his support. We were honored to have representation of our elected officials from the county and the municipalities, as well as the command staff of the Miami-Dade Schools police and Richard Tapia representing School Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla who has committed to helping us with our funding issue.
Also in attendance were Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker and his command staff, who assisted in the presentation of several of our awards.
This year, we added a special award in memory of executive board member Dr. Jose Marques, who passed away earlier this year, recognizing his dedication to education in the crime prevention field.
Also recognized was Officer David Carrero of the Miami-Dade Police Intracoastal District, who put his life at risk for our community -- he was shot several times while responding to a burglary call. An alert crime watcher called in a suspicious vehicle occupied by two people and Carrero answered that call, according to Maj. Mark Jeter.
This was the first year for many of our guests. We were very happy to see some of our new partners, such as the city of Opa-locka with interim Chief Hayes Tubbs and the city of Sweetwater with Mayor Manuel Morono.
Other municipalities attending included Miami Lakes, North Miami Beach, North Miami, Miami, Surfside, Key Biscayne, Cutler Bay and Aventura.
Our thanks also to Robert Hernandez and the staff of the Sheraton Miami Mart; Juan Carlos Arana, who provided the audio/visual equipment; and Samuel Beam, who organized our picture slide presentation during the ceremony.
Our event could not have been possible for many of our crime watchers without the support of those who sponsored tables: the Police Benevolent Association, Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Officers Association Trust, County Commissioners Barbara Jordan, Sally Heyman, Joe Martinez, Javier Souto, Dennis Moss, Katy Sorenson, Audrey Edmonson and Dorrin Rolle; and Mayor Alvarez.
A special thanks to Hot Mail Direct for sponsoring our journal and the Hispanic Officers Association for sponsoring our centerpieces.
It truly was a night that I know many will remember.
Carmen Caldwell is the executive director of the Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade. Send feedback and news for this column to cmcwatch@aol.com, or call her, 305-470-1670. Send letters to the editor to mhamaludin@MiamiHerald.com.
