Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez finally issued the veto Friday that he promised of the 8-5 commission decision to return some money the county has been taking away from employees for five years. That was no surprise.
What may have raised some eyebrows is a memo he wrote a day earlier telling Miami-Dade Police Director J. D. Patterson that he wants to transfer jurisdiction of police-involved shootings to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
But don’t think for a minute, dear reader, that this is a coincidence. Or that these two documents are separately conceived.
While Ladra might welcome the scrutiny of an outside law enforcement agency on something so critical — when needed and appropriate — the timing of this notice stinks. On the one hand, the mayor vetoes the employee 5% pay restoration — which he wryly calls a “pay raise” again — and with the other he smacks down the police department’s credibility with the public, which also slaps PBA President John Rivera, one of his biggest and loudest critics.
Pretty freaking cynical, if you ask me. Almost Machiavellian.
The mayor’s memo is pretty aggressive, too. In it, Gimenez directs the police chief to discuss these procedures with the FDLE and the State Attorney’s Office to “ensure a seamless process” — really? — and says he will schedule a follow up meeting to hear about the implementation. In other words, Chief, get it done. Don’t just explore the benefits and potential setbacks. This is happening, whether you like it or not. And my sources say Patterson does not. Why 
would he? His officers, by the way, train the FDLE in the investigations of police shootings. Maybe the mayor didn’t know that. I would bet, however, that he doesn’t care. This is simply a PR move to send the public a propaganda message: “The cops want a raise. Oh, and by the way, they can’t investigate themselves.”
It’s absolutely and flagrantly contemptuous.
“Actually, it’s comical,” Rivera told Ladra. “Because most of the investigation in a police-involved shooting is about the evidence — the handling of evidence and the science of evidence. And he’s not going to transfer that to FDLE. The Metro Dade Crime Lab will still do that part. We’re only giving the investigative portion away.”
That only helps prove what Ladra and Rivera think — that this is a publicity stunt simply made to make the cops look bad with no real intention of adding any strength or integrity to investigations that have not been accused of lacking either.
It’s just un tremendo descaro!
But this is Gimenez’s police department, isn’t it? He does what he wants with it, doesn’t he? Remember how he dismembered the public corruption unit last summer? Yes, the very same one that investigated possible absentee ballot fraud in his own 2012 campaign. The mayor will continue to weaken the department because police officers are his enemies, having supported his challenger, former Chairman and former cop Joe Martinez, in 2012. And, since they are likely not going to support him in 2016, it serves him politically.
Gimenez said that having the FDLE investigate county police shootings will help restore the public’s trust in the police department. But last time I checked, the public trusts the police department more than they trust him.
Maybe the FDLE or another outside agency can investigate the procurement process for the water and sewer contracts — and other bid issues, since the violations of the cone of silence seems to be a habit (more on that later) — and the relationships between the mayor and the involved lobbyists, who are also friends and may employ his relatives.
See? We don’t have a public corruption unit to do it anymore. Isn’t that convenient?
Gimenez 5% veto tied to politically-motivated FDLE transfer added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
