May 2023
Officer of the Month May 2023
Officer Kevin Crespo
The North Miami Police Department’s “Officer of the Month” for May 2023 is Officer Kevin Crespo. Officer Crespo is a 10-year veteran of the North Miami Police Department. He is assigned to the Community Policing Section.
On February 2022, Detective O. Torres requested Officer Crespo to respond to Enchanted Forest Park to assist a homeless family in need of services. One of the four family members was a 7-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The family had been homeless for approximately two months and sleeping in the family’s car. In order to ensure that the 7-year-old girl was receiving proper therapy, the family met with the therapist at Enchanted Forest Park on weekdays. Besides having another child with a related disability, the children’s mother was also disabled. As a result, she was unable to secure employment. The family relied solely on the father’s income, which was insufficient to afford housing.
Officer Crespo immediately met with the family and started contacting different entities seeking assistance, such as The City of Miami Homeless Trust and Chapman Partnership Homeless Centers. Officer Crespo made phone call after phone call until he was able to get a case worker assigned to the family. Shortly thereafter, the family was successfully placed in a shelter while awaiting permanent housing. Officer Crespo continued to follow the family’s progress monthly, and routinely checked in with the case worker. Although finding the family a permanent residence proved to be difficult, it never crossed Officer Crespo’s mind to give up on the family. After learning that the case worker was having difficulty finding a home for the family, Officer Crespo began looking for housing in the North Miami and North Miami Beach area. Because of Officer Crespo’s tenacity and relentless pursuit of services, the family finally obtained stable housing on April 10th, 2023.
Officer Crespo went above and beyond the scope of his duty to ensure this family received the essential services they desperately needed. Without his determination and good heart, the family would undoubtedly still be homeless. Officer Crespo’s actions exemplify the North Miami Police Department’s core value of Empathy, and motto of “Making a Positive Impact”.