Lake Monroe, FL— September 25, 2013.
“Bookville” 3 – Colonies of Homeless Sex Offenders Continue to Grow and Generate Media Attention.
“Bookville” – the name that has become associated with a colony of sex offenders forced to live homeless as a consequence of residency restrictions pushed through by lobbyist Ron Book, which is in its third incarnation, is beginning to get media attention again.
The first “Bookville” developed under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, but when the growing number of inhabitants began to swell from under the overpass and become visible to passing tourists en route to Miami Beach, the overpass was fenced off and its inhabitants were moved to NE 79th Street and 10th Avenue; another of the very limited pockets of availability for sex offenders in Miami-Dade County.
A couple of years later, when residents of that community began to get annoyed by the offenders living on the sidewalk who were dumped there by probation, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff installed a spring toy in a small decrepit lot and declared it the “Little River Pocket Park”, effectively banishing the inhabitants from there.
Today, “Bookville 3” has emerged at NW 71st Street and 36th Court, along the railroad tracks, where 130 individuals are registered as homeless, living without shelter, fresh water, electricity or sanitation – forced to urinate and defecate in the bushes.
Probation and legislators likely hoped that this more desolate warehouse district would remain under wraps a bit longer, but the Media is catching up. Just this past Thursday, the Miami New Times ran a story on the encampment, Univision 23 Miami (WLTV) was out to film a feature and a news crew from as far as France came to film the intolerable conditions former sex offenders in the United States are subjected to.
Undoubtedly, as it has done before, the County will soon come up with a creative way to displace the sex offenders from Bookville 3 and is probably currently searching for a bridge, field or sidewalk in another community to shuffle them to. However, with very limited pockets of availability remaining in the County where sex offenders can reside; expect Commissioners to face a very big challenge planning the development of Bookville 4.
Recent Comments