New potential victim pool for Hialeah Police Chief [Abuser]

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Be afraid, people of Miami Beach. Be very afraid.

Do you know who is about to become your assistant police chief? Really know?

City Manager Jorge Gonzalez has offered Hialeah Police Chief [Abuser] Mark Overton the temporary post. Because, c’mon, everybody knows this is a backroom deal for him to become top banana in a year or so after Chief Ray Martinez retires. We just don’t know why. (What does Martinez have on the city officials, eh?)

Many of us who have watched Overton play Gopher God to his respective bosses and felt his wrath personally also can’t see why he was chosen over the other fine candidates who applied for the chief’s position (upon assistant chief Martinez being picked, that was Overton’s consolation prize). Sure, the buff, bilingual, Bible-thumping bonitillo can look good on paper — with 28 years on the force, patrol time, a climb up the ranks, big headline-producing drug busts, a stint as president of the Miami Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police.

His resume’ sings.

But his real time substance sounds far less sweet.

Overton is Hialeah City Hall’s version of the Tontons Macoutes (granted, with far less actual blood) and does the bidding of whoever is in power in their efforts to stay in power. There is ample documentation of Overton’s abuse of his position since he took the department’s helm in 2007, shortly after former Mayor Julio Robaina took control of City Hall.

About half of the internal affairs investigations opened last year were politically motivated witch hunts. Like when he had a detective follow former Mayor Raul Martinez, who was challenging Mayor Carlos Hernandez, into the homes of supporters. She documented how he carried a box of suspected pastelitos into the apartment where he had clearly been invited before the intimidation tactic was ceased, er, I mean the investigation into alleged cooperation with the enemy by city employees was closed and deemed unsubstantiated. He had three other employees brought into the station and interrogated after they were seen helping Martinez set up his campaign office in their uniforms They were installing a new toilet in the office bathroom after work hours, mind you. They were not on the street with campaign signs. (And, by the way, they are the same employees who reportedly installed the mayor’s hot tub in his back yard. I bet they left their uniform shirts on then, too). One of the men told me that day that their “investigation” — which was ordered after an “anonymous tip” to Hernandez (read: yeah, okay, you’re with me) — was clearly meant to scare them from supporting Martinez.

Both of these incidents were covered by the Miami Herald and local TV channels. So Miami Beach leaders can’t claim ignorance.

This is what they want in Miami Beach? Maybe Mayor Matti Bower has enforcer envy.

During Overton’s short administration at the police department, he has turned it into the personal G2 or brigadas de respuesta rapidas for the mayor and council members. Shortly after he was promoted, Robaina and he decided to reward the good, obedient Hialeah G2 officers (read: henchmen) by skipping the whole chain of command civil service rank thing and seven new positions with the newly invented title of “commander” (with equally invented salary raises), a move that has been criticized and that has caused much tension and loss of morale among the ranks. He rewards bad cops (take the case of new Deputy Chief Sergio Velazquez, who is soon to become the chief abuser himself despite his spotty record) and punished good cops (Sgt. Tony Luis, Lt. Barbie Ricano, Det. Ricky Garcia) who didn’t toe his political line.

This is what they want in Miami Beach?

Last I heard, he was hot to find out who in the force had tipped Ladra off to the mayor’s personal security goon squad — four police officers, three of which were on duty, patrolling the parking lot at the Flanigan’s where he was celebrating his victory on Election Day. Wonder if they escorted him home after they illegally had me trespassed off the property at the mayor’s request. They are good at illegal trespass warnings. I have four of them myself.

This is what they want in Miami Beach?

And we also know that Overton has been the source of at least one complaint to the FDLE — mine. (https://www.politicalcortadito.com/2011/11/09/ladra-is-battered-by-police-chief/) After he physically grabbed me and pushed me out of a public building, The Goodlet Park Adult Community Center, during a press conference where Robaina and U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart endorsed Hernandez, without allowing me the time to just walk away — as I always do before the cops issue me an illegal trespass warning — I contacted the FDLE office in Tallahassee to complain about his battery on me. The Miami-Dade Public Corruption Unit and State Attorney’s Office have also received information from me about the special community response team units in undercover muscle cars following me and some of the more critical city employees (read: firefighters and labor leaders) around. One officer basically admitted to me that he was sicked on me by Overton after one of the commission meetings where I dared to question his methods. He had to tell the chief he couldn’t find me to get out of it.

This is what they want in Miami Beach?

Do they also want lawsuits from residents after rogue “auxiliary officers” who actually work in the fire department but roam around town toting pistols and police radios to shoot a citizen dead. This happened in Hialeah last month when Lazaro Guerra, who is supposed to be the 911 center communication chief, responded to a scene on his own accord and shot a 48-year-old truck driver and emotionally disturbed man armed with nothing more than a flare gun. “My brother was assassinated. He was executed,” said his sister, Elsa Nuñez, who is bringing a claim against the city. She says the police could have handled it better.

This is what they want in Miami Beach?

Overton more than condones police shootings. No, he actually encourages them, as evidenced in this 2005 email to the command staff when he was deputy chief.  It lists the examples of “exceptionally cleared cases,” such as suicide of the offender, lack of cooperation from the victim, etc. “My personal favorite, the offender is killed by the police or citizens,” he wrote. It’s in his words. “I have noticed that officers are checking the exceptionally cleared box for a host of reasons other than the criteria which is accepted by the state. Please have them stop the practice,” he wrote. He’d rather have the officers shoot more suspected bad guys instead, apparently.

I happen to know this email was delivered to every single one of the city commissioners last week. They can’t claim ignorance.

So this must be what they want in Miami Beach.

Silly Ladra. We thought the city was looking for someone solid and clean to lead the department out of the controversy and crises it has reaped lately from some bad headlines, like drunken cops running over someone in an ATV (he’ll protect his yesmen and sell out any naysayers) last year’s Memorial Day police shooting (Overton will reward that), allegations of gay bashing (I suspect he’s not LGBT friendly) and a drunken officer running over someone in an ATV. But with Overton, they can expect even more bad press (and Ladra’s increasing presence, just to document what happens next).

The puff piece in today’s Miami Herald is a glossy overview of the expected obituary fodder that everybody in the Beach government wants to see. “Chief Mark Overton is leaving the City of Hialeah and the Police Department much better that when he arrived and that is the true testament of an outstanding police career,” Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez was quoted as saying, from “an emailed statement.” Better for him, of course. Not better for his critics.

Did anybody in the Beach selection committee talk to any of them? Probably not.

But it’s not too late. City commissioners must approve the appointment at Wednesday’s meeting — and have this one opportunity to keep freedom of speech and independent liberties intact in Miami Beach. I hope each of them reads this blog, which will be independently emailed to them and the city manager and his staff, none of which returned my phone calls or emails Tuesday.

I urge the Overton’s victims from Hialeah to go to Wednesday’s Miami Beach City Commission meeting and tell their stories and show their scars.

I urge the people in Miami Beach to go and tell their commissioners and the staff that works for them that this embarrassment to the badge is not good enough for such a true city of progress.