The number of arrests of young people in Miami-Dade County has fallen significantly over the past decade, but young Black residents — despite the overall decrease — are being arrested in disproportionately higher numbers compared to white or Latino juveniles.
That’s the conclusion of a University of Miami study of juvenile arrests between 2010 and 2022 commissioned by the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust. MDEAT is a county agency committed to ensuring Black residents participate in the county’s economic growth and addressing socioeconomic disparities within the Black community.
The UM/MDEAT study, released in September, found a mix of positive and negative trends.
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The positive news: Overall youth arrests had decreased by 76% since 2010 in Miami-Dade County, along with an 81% drop in total number of young people arrested. Also, differences in arrest rates between Black youth and other racial and ethnic groups has fallen more than 60% since 2010.
Todd Warner, a professor at the University of Miami and lead researcher on the study, says despite fewer youth arrests over time and shrinking disparities, his analysis found alarming trends.
“We see many more black youth being arrested compared to white Latinx and white non-Latinx youth,” he said. “And although the differences between those groups have decreased, it's still not anywhere near the proportion or the percentage that is representative out in the larger county.”
Indeed, the UM researchers found that the percentage of young Black Miami-Dade residents arrested remains “consistently higher and disproportionate” to their population. Black youth aged 10 to 17 years of age account for roughly 17% of the population, yet they account for 58% of all youth arrests.
Another finding: Black youth were far more likely to be arrested and re-arrested compared to white youth and Latinos.
It’s the persistent inequality between population makeup and arrest rates among Black youth that MDEAT hopes to address through an economic lens.
Marcus Bright, MDEAT's youth services administrator, said the numbers signal a systemic pattern of inequity and injustice.
“It also signals that the school-to-prison pipeline and the mass incarceration epidemic is still alive and well … we need to make it important and we need to continue to elevate this issue,” he said.
MDEAT is holding a public symposium at Florida Memorial University on Thursday, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
They’ll discuss possible economic solutions to the persistent racial disproportionality among youth arrests.
Some of these suggestions include requiring a licensed mental health coordinator at each public school and creating a universal public option for early learning.
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