Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who is also running for Mayor, posted a graphic on Facebook showing inaccurate violent crime statistics before quietly deleting the post just hours later.
The post claimed that violent crime had surged in Miami Beach during the first half of 2025. It included a bar graph purporting to show 894 violent crimes in the city between January and June, including 652 aggravated assaults, 184 robberies, 43 rapes, 14 homicides and 11 cases of manslaughter. In her post, Rosen Gonzalez vowed to “always tell you the truth, even if it isn’t pretty.”
However, the graphic raised eyebrows almost immediately. City officials and public safety experts said figures in the chart did not match any publicly available data from the Miami Beach Police Department.
In fact, the Department’s official crime statistics dashboard shows violent crime in Miami Beach has actually dropped more than 5% year-over-year, with just 477 total violent incidents recorded through the end of June. That number includes three homicides, 25 rapes, 68 robberies and 381 aggravated assaults, all significantly lower than the figures Rosen-Gonzalez briefly shared.
It remains unclear where the graphic originated. While the post cited the Miami Beach Police Department as its source, no such chart appears in the Department’s records or publications.
The post was soon removed without comment. But in an email sent to supporters a week later, Rosen Gonzalez doubled down on her broader argument that crime in Miami Beach is on the rise — contrary to what she called “the slanted narrative from the Mayor’s office.”
That’s a reference to incumbent Mayor Steven Meiner, whom she hopes to unseat. Rosen Gonzalez is facing term limits for her current Commission seat. While the Mayor’s race is technically nonpartisan, political leanings have become a large part of local politics over the past several years. Rosen Gonzalez is a registered Democrat, while Meiner is registered without political affiliation.
Miami Beach Police Department officials have yet to issue a formal statement on Rosen Gonzalez’s post, but confirmed to reporters that the figures presented were not accurate and did not reflect their internal data or reporting to the state and FBI.
The incident puts public safety at the center of the campaign. Since taking office two years ago, Meiner has made public safety a cornerstone of his administration, including strengthening protections for visitors and residents during high attendance events, including Spring Break.
Meiner and Rosen Gonzalez were aligned on curbing Spring Break partying, which included a beach curfew, and they were on the same side in supporting arresting people without homes for sleeping outdoors, according to the Miami Herald.
Rosen Gonzalez has been something of a political firebrand, often getting into heated debates with colleagues on the dais and sometimes making incendiary remarks about those who disagree with her. During her first term in office, which began in 2015, Rosen Gonzalez faced five ethics complaints, though she was cleared of all of them.
Meiner has beat Rosen Gonzalez before, in 2019. After securing a spot in the runoff election that year by just two votes, Meiner went on to defeat Rosen Gonzalez, denying her bid to reclaim the Commission seat she had previously held. Meiner’s victory was considered a political upset at the time.
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