MIAMI \u2014 Water leaks from the ceiling, pipes drip and staff are left making do inside the City of Miami Police Department headquarters.<\/p>\n
In some areas, a yellow emergency blanket has been turned into a drainage system. Windows are lined with black duct tape to keep rainwater out.<\/p>\n
Local 10 News cameras inside the downtown building show the criminal investigations unit on the top floor and, below it, the evidence room — both dealing with water issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis area back here, this is where the water pools,\u201d Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said.<\/p>\n
Morales said repeated repairs have failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have made repairs that have failed again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ava Johnson, who has worked in the building for 28 years, described the conditions as unbearable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething\u2019s in the air here,\u201d she said. \u201cSmells like sewage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The downtown Miami Police headquarters is about 50 years old, and Morales said it has fallen into disrepair after decades of neglect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a visualization of how we\u2019ve kind of failed as a city keeping up the infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked who is to blame, Morales said, \u201cI don\u2019t like to sit and talk\u2026 it wasn\u2019t intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s new mayor Eileen Higgins called the conditions deplorable and is proposing a new police headquarters at the future home of City Hall next to Inter Miami\u2019s new stadium at Miami Freedom Park.<\/p>\n
The project would be funded through a $450 million bond, which voters would be asked to approve in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur bonding rate is the same,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n
Some of that funding would also go toward improving conditions at city fire stations.<\/p>\n
At Fire Station No. 1, which houses the city\u2019s hazardous response team, mold is visible under an air conditioning unit.<\/p>\n
At Fire Station No. 5, temporary fixes are also in place.<\/p>\n
Fire Chief Robert Hevia said firefighters should not have to work in those conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirefighters are expected to respond at a moment\u2019s notice. When they come back, they get no break,\u201d Hevia said. \u201cWe have to be able to give them a place to eat, a place to shower\u2026 bathrooms in a 24-hour period. And it should be comfortable. We\u2019re asking for improvements — normal improvements any person would have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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