In an effort to reduce the intake and release at the TGK facility, VG Mayor Spencer Deno and the Virginia Gardens Village Council have requested that the County look at the possibility of the Metro West facility serving as an intake/release center.
Currently, Virginia Gardens Police are looking for a suspect in a carjacking case believed to be committed by a recent release from TGK. This is just one of the many incidents associated with people released from TGK.
According to communications between the Village of Virginia Gardens and the Office of the Miami-Dade County Mayor, the Mayor’s Office was trying to address the following concerns from the Village:
- What is the cost and feasibility of expanding transit out to the Metro West Detention Center so that it can serve as an intake and release center?
- Can the Metro West Detention Center be used as the sole intake and release center? If not, can intake/release be shared between Metro West and TGK?
Unfortunately, as the communications continued, it appears the idea of using Metro West as an alternative intake/release facility has been stymied by the lack of public transportation. Metro West would need public bus service.
According to an email from the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Government and Community Liasion, Tomas Alcada, “an extension of Bus Route 36 to 138th Ave would add at least 20 minutes to the route, and since route 36 has a 20 minute headway it would mean adding another bus to the route. A quick estimate shows that to extend service to this location using one additional bus, seven days a week, would cost just under $500,000 annually plus the operator, fuel, maintenance, and depreciation. Therefore, expanding bus transit out west to the Metro West Detention Center is not currently feasible.”
