Thursday, June 5, 2014
Edduard Prince Being Interviewed By Reporter Wilson Sayre From WRLN
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
AL Crespo Report: The Most Dangerous Street In Miami
Written By: Al Crespo May 27, 2014
Website: www.crespogram.
Between August 1, 2012 and July 30, 2013, the Florida East Coast Railway Police arrested 231 people for trespassing when they walked across the railroad track in the photos above.
From a review of the arrest reports and in talking with some of the individuals who continue to walk across the railroad tracks, their real crime was being poor.
From a review of the arrest reports and in talking with some of the individuals who continue to walk across the railroad tracks, their real crime was being poor.
The photos above are of NW 17th Street between North Miami Avenue and NW 1st Avenue, and the people arrested were people who for the most part lived on the Westside of the tracks in Overtown. Many were going or coming from work, or the Publix grocery store on Biscayne Boulevard, or from any number of other locations on the Eastside of the tracks.
They crossed the tracks here because it is the only open section along the tracks between 14th and 20th street that allows one to cross the tracks. When you’re poor - $11 a day poor - and have to walk, the most direct path between two points is always going to be the way you want to go.
For years, this stretch of track was vacant, but a couple years ago the FEC Railway company started refurbishing the track to allow cargo containers to be moved from the Port of Miami to staging areas in Hialeah, and no one disputes the issue of safety when people walk across railroad tracks, but at the same time, the frequency of arrests along a very small portion of the track from roughly NW 8th Street to 20th Street that borders the poorest section of the poorest District in the City of Miami cannot be ignored.
I live in Miami Shores, a predominately White, middle and upper-middle class Village where people walk their dogs along the track all the time, and in checking with local police no one has ever to their knowledge been arrested for trespassing on the FEC tracks.
Most folks who were stopped by the FEC Police received an Arrest Complaint like the one below.
Others weren’t so lucky.
Others weren’t so lucky.
Edduard Prince managed to piss the cops off when he stood up for his rights, and ended up being arrested. Instead of getting mad, Prince filed a lawsuit.
To his credit, Nazeribe Ihekwaba, the Director of Public Works for the City reached out to the FEC earlier this month in an effort to make the 17th Street crossing a legal thoroughfare.
In addition, I ran into attorney John De Leon, who does a lot of civil rights and first amendment legal work, and he indicated that he had heard about this situation and was interested in talking to folks who might have been arrested for crossing these railroad tracks. His phone number is 305.740.5347.
The reason why I titled this story as “A Hidden Cost Of How Income Inequality Affects Poor People In Miami,” is because these Arrest Citations become a part of a person’s “criminal record.”
In checking with the Public Defender;s Office I learned that every year as many as 50,000 people in Miami-Dade County are arrested or charged with a misdemeanor - these trespassing charges ARE misdemeanors - and even though the courts have been throwing them out as fast as they’ve been filed - the way in which employers today rely on internet background checks means that these charges can have an impact on hiring, housing and any number of other decisions.
That’s one hell of a price to pay for wanting to walk home or to work the quickest way possible.
It’s Miami, Bitches!
It’s Miami, Bitches!
Overtown Residents Systematically Arrested for Crossing Train Tracks
Written by: Trevor Bach
On May 20, 2013, Edduard Prince began walking from his home on 17th Street in Overtown to his job at a legal processing company at 15th and Biscayne, just as he does every day. He crossed the railroad tracks that bisect his street between NW First and North Miami avenues, just like everybody else does.
And then a few minutes later, he was arrested for trespassing, just like hundreds of others have been -- all for walking through their own neighborhood.
"[The officers] were two blocks away from the tracks, on the side, behind other cars," says Prince, whose story was first reported by Al Crespo's Crespogram blog last week. "Once you walk down the street, they kind of like pop out from behind these cars."
In the past couple of years, the Florida East Coast Railway Police, which has jurisdiction over the tracks, has issued at least 700 trespassing arrests in the exact same spot, claims Prince, who has a pending civil lawsuit against the company and who provided Riptide with dozens of other arrest affidavits. The offenders are predominantly black and poor, like most residents in the area, and they're typically walking between Overtown and jobs or businesses east of the tracks or to the Publix on Biscayne Boulevard.
They cross at the trash-strewn rock path at NW 17th Street because it's the only option for seven blocks. Once arrested, they're typically handcuffed and sometimes taken to jail -- only for the charges to be promptly dismissed in court.
"They're targeting poor communities," Jon De Leon, a civil rights lawyer, says. "It has been a program used to detain and arrest minorities."
But Bob Ledoux, a spokesman for the railway, says that his company's main concern is safety and that every year pedestrians are killed trying to walk across tracks. "Depending on the circumstances, the officers have the authority to make arrests if they deem to be warranted," he says.
Prince was arrested around 10 in the morning. He was wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pockets, he says, when the officers converged on him from behind the cars. One pointed a gun. Prince had already heard from friends about the arrests and quickly steeled himself.
"You going to arrest me for walking over the railroad tracks?" he quipped. He told the officers that he worked for an attorney's office and that his was a nonarrestable offense. "OK, smart-ass," he claims one said. "You're going to jail."
Prince was released that day but had to visit the hospital for minor injuries. He filed a claim and then was arrested again a few weeks later, he said, this time without even crossing the tracks.
Faced with complaints from residents like Prince, Miami's public works department filed a request with Florida East Coast Railway last month to create a pedestrian crossing at 17th Street. Ledoux says the railway plans to work on educating residents about the risks.
In the meantime, they're forced to weigh the risk of arrest versus the need to get to work or the grocery store. "It's like a trap for people," De Leon says. "It doesn't make any sense."
On May 20, 2013, Edduard Prince began walking from his home on 17th Street in Overtown to his job at a legal processing company at 15th and Biscayne, just as he does every day. He crossed the railroad tracks that bisect his street between NW First and North Miami avenues, just like everybody else does.
And then a few minutes later, he was arrested for trespassing, just like hundreds of others have been -- all for walking through their own neighborhood.
"[The officers] were two blocks away from the tracks, on the side, behind other cars," says Prince, whose story was first reported by Al Crespo's Crespogram blog last week. "Once you walk down the street, they kind of like pop out from behind these cars."
In the past couple of years, the Florida East Coast Railway Police, which has jurisdiction over the tracks, has issued at least 700 trespassing arrests in the exact same spot, claims Prince, who has a pending civil lawsuit against the company and who provided Riptide with dozens of other arrest affidavits. The offenders are predominantly black and poor, like most residents in the area, and they're typically walking between Overtown and jobs or businesses east of the tracks or to the Publix on Biscayne Boulevard.
They cross at the trash-strewn rock path at NW 17th Street because it's the only option for seven blocks. Once arrested, they're typically handcuffed and sometimes taken to jail -- only for the charges to be promptly dismissed in court.
"They're targeting poor communities," Jon De Leon, a civil rights lawyer, says. "It has been a program used to detain and arrest minorities."
But Bob Ledoux, a spokesman for the railway, says that his company's main concern is safety and that every year pedestrians are killed trying to walk across tracks. "Depending on the circumstances, the officers have the authority to make arrests if they deem to be warranted," he says.
Prince was arrested around 10 in the morning. He was wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pockets, he says, when the officers converged on him from behind the cars. One pointed a gun. Prince had already heard from friends about the arrests and quickly steeled himself.
"You going to arrest me for walking over the railroad tracks?" he quipped. He told the officers that he worked for an attorney's office and that his was a nonarrestable offense. "OK, smart-ass," he claims one said. "You're going to jail."
Prince was released that day but had to visit the hospital for minor injuries. He filed a claim and then was arrested again a few weeks later, he said, this time without even crossing the tracks.
Faced with complaints from residents like Prince, Miami's public works department filed a request with Florida East Coast Railway last month to create a pedestrian crossing at 17th Street. Ledoux says the railway plans to work on educating residents about the risks.
In the meantime, they're forced to weigh the risk of arrest versus the need to get to work or the grocery store. "It's like a trap for people," De Leon says. "It doesn't make any sense."
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