Officers are afraid to do their job, union prez says
It’s not just Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo who doesn’t like Police Chief Art Acevedo. According to an online Survey Monkey “100-day climate” survey of the department, Acevedo is, indeed, disliked by his buddies in blue and has brought the morale way down.
Almost half of the 860-some officers who answered the questions posed by the Miami Fraternal Order of Police — representing more than two thirds of the 1,200 members — said things are worse off in the department since Acevedo was sworn in and more than half say the chief has hampered them from effectively doing their jobs as police officers.
More than 80 percent of the respondents — and two of every three reported to be patrol officers — said the chief “fosters an environment” where they are “reluctant to react when faced with violent” incidents and close to 65% say the chief does not have their backs.
A whopping 90% said the chief — a national media darling who is prone to selfies — is more concerned with his personal image than with the department.
Know more: Miami Police Chief under political fire for selfies, ‘Cuban mafia’ comment
People have speculated that Acevedo is running for Miami-Dade sheriff in 2024 and that that’s the only reason he came here. Acevedo told Ladra that people always think he’s running for office. He thinks it’s his charisma.
Acevedo has been a controversial hire since he came out of nowhere from the Houston Police Department care of Mayor Francis Suarez in March. Way before the convenient “Cuban mafia” comment he made at roll call in reference to the Miami Police Department. No wonder morale is low.
Surprised commissioners were in the process of interviewing possible replacements when, boom, it was done. Sorry, your input is not needed, guys. They didn’t like that. And now they want to change the charter so the commission is part of an official and transparent selection process, forming a committee that then recommends a shortlist to the city manager.
Thanks to a Suarez veto, they can’t put it on the ballot this year and Ladra doubts very much that they will wait until next year to replace the chief, who was blasted by Commissioner Joe Carollo at the commission meeting last week. Carollo, who has not minced words about wanting Acevedo gone, has called for a special meeting Sept. 27 just to discuss the chief.
Acevedo did not return a call from Ladra. In a text message, he declined to make himself available for comment. “Can’t right now. Need to focus on 23 and 27,” he said, referring to the two upcoming meetings.
But his days are numbered. Because even if Carollo didn’t already have the three votes necessary to force City Manager Art Noriega to fire the chief, how can he stay now knowing what we know about how the rank and file feel?
“It’s not what I want, it’s what the members want,” said Miami FOP President Tommy Reyes. “The majority want him gone. At this point, they’ll take pretty much anybody over him.”
The survey asked officers to come with a word to describe the new chief. The word “liar” seems to have been picked the most. Tyrant and dictator are also pretty popular. Narcissist and selfish was repeated. Racist came up.
A few officers offered words like leader, open minded and brave. But more of them chose “asshole.”
“He rules by fear. And he’s not a respectful guy,” Reyes told Ladra.
Some folks might think that it’s not a bad thing if the police union and Crazy Joe Carollo are warring with the police chief. It might even show that the chief is doing his job and cleaning house of the bad guayabas. Everyone knows the Miami Police department could use a little limpieza.
It was something Acevedo — who can with a reputation — said he would do even before he was sworn in. In fact, there are officers who never gave him a chance. Reyes admits Acevedo may have come in with the cards stacked against him. About a month before he was sworn in, the FOP prez sent an email to the members, asking them to give chief a chance:
“We have started off on the right foot with open lines of communications,” Reyes wrote in March. “I know that our new Chief does not have the most popular opinion amongst cops from his previous departments and around the country. Our lodge will go into this relationship with an open mind and formulate our own opinions of our new Chief. I urge our members to do the same, lets show our new Chief what Miami PD is all about, let’s show him what a great police department looks like.
“Make no mistake that the FOP is here for our members and is at the ready for whatever comes our way. But let’s afford Chief Acevedo the opportunity to prove himself to us as we prove ourselves to him.”
Some officers have described Acevedo as a bull in a china shop, looking to make waves and create a perception of accountability without really making it fair or, well, accountable. They say he’s throwing out all the apples, bad and good. There have been the high-profile firings of high-ranking and veteran officers, including former Deputy Chief Ronald Papier and his wife, a commander, for a cover-up of an accident involving a police vehicle. But there have also been more suspensions and disciplinary action for use of force in what Reyes says are unwarranted cases.
Know more: Miami’s new police chief moves to fire husband and wife team after cover-up
“Use of force is never pretty. Any time you have to use force to subdue a person it’s not pretty. But it’s part of the job,” Reyes told Ladra, adding that in some cases, officers have been disciplined for grabbing someone by the arm. “When you tell someone they are under arrest, very early do they say, ‘Oh yes, sir,’ and jump into the back of the car.
“We’ve had a few cases where reasonable person in the same position would use the same type of force and he’s relieving them of duty,” Reyes said. “He’s made the policy so restrictive that people are afraid to do their job. Cops are terrified to touch people.”
Ladra isn’t sure that isn’t a good thing. Maybe cops should be scared to touch people, because their touch can be so impactful.
But Reyes said officers are leaving — retiring early or going to other departments. And that is bad.
The survey was filled out by two thirds of the 1,200 members of the union and represents an unprecedented rebuke of the city’s top cop.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Reyes said.
Maybe it’s because 63% of them, according to the survey, don’t like going to work.
Miami Police online survey shows no confidence in ‘liar’ Chief Art Acevedo added by Ladra on
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We are living in a County of Cowards ,That’s Why ALL Our PUBLIC officials have to have Escorts and in some cases Police Protection on Their Residences ? Why , WHY?
Natalie ,
I knew I could count on Jose Pepe Diaz to come through as far as making my point , He ALWAYS does lol and he gets caught but reelected .
You are correct nothing on Carollo.
” Despite pocketing an $800 monthly car allowance, several Miami-Dade commissioners use sworn police officers to chauffeur them in county cars — costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands a year in overtime and raising concerns about personal abuse of public money.
Commissioner Jose ”Pepe” Diaz was ferried at least 144 times in 2007 and 2008 by Kevin Greenwood, one of the commission’s sergeants-at-arms who provide security at meetings and, of late, have essentially become personal drivers for a handful of commissioners.
Greenwood’s service frequently stretched beyond his normal eight-hour shift, according to his signed logs, earning him overtime on at least 125 trips. Some nights, he put in exceptionally long hours, dropping the commissioner off at midnight or later at least 15 times.
Being Commissioner Diaz’s personal chauffeur helped drive Greenwood’s $85,050 base salary to $142,240 last year.
Another officer, Paul Hernandez, drove Diaz to the celebrity-packed grand opening of the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach last fall, a fellow commissioner said. Hernandez logged 27 hours of overtime over that weekend with Diaz.
In an e-mail Friday, Diaz declined to discuss the Fontainebleau weekend but wrote that he used the sergeants-at-arms to carry out his duties.
”As you know, the responsibilities of a County Commissioner extend far beyond meetings at the Stephen P. Clark Center,” Diaz wrote. “I have used sergeants-at-arms when necessary to ensure my safety and security.”
Natalie I hope your not typing on here on city time? Mr. Carollo makes plenty of use of personal police escorts spare us the BS. And Mr. Carollo being a man in the anatomical sense may have a pair of testicles (I wouldn’t know do you?) , but certainly not in the way you intended to describe otherwise he wouldn’t be accompanied by police escort everywhere.
Can anyone tell me why a city commissioner or even a Mayor need a Police Escort(Bodyguard’s)? I remember back when Steve Clark, Plummer, Ferre etc were seen out without police officers around them acting like their escorting some tin pot dictator.
This message is directed to Commissioners Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Ken Russel, William Ortiz, Antonio A. Wagner, Celso A. Ahumada and Jeffrey A. Watson. This is a Formal Request to carefully consider your steps moving forward in regards to Joe Carollo.
A Special Meeting has been scheduled to address the Chief of Police, Mr. Art Acevedo. This will be not just a Special Meeting but an Extraordinary Meeting. This indeed is a special moment in our city’s history and your decisions matter greatly not just to the one’s present but for the entire City of Miami.
We believe the six of you deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to your engagements with Carollo and therefore at this time we would like to extend to each of you the benefit of that doubt that you either had no prior knowledge of Carollo’s abuse or your memories simply have failed to remember over the span of these last twenty years. Either way, as of today, you officially all now know the extent of Carollo’s brutality.
He considers himself an equal colleague amongst you. He is not and let us kindly remind you of it if you have forgotten. He is a terrorist in his own home. He does not deserve to sit, stand or speak amongst you. He relinquished that honor the day he beat his wife and has absolutely no moral authority to be the judge of anyone’s actions, especially the Chief’s. We are a civilized society and he is a barbaric bigoted bully whose true character continues to be demonstrated up until very recently with his dangerous and despicable statements made in the Miami Herald towards the Chief and all immigrants.
Your decisions from here moving forward in regards to Carollo is completely up to your free will but with full knowledge of his actions. Our silence in the past towards Carollo’s abuse stops now. We trust you all are very rational and fully understand the severity of your presence next to him only legitimizes a wifebeater who slipped through the cracks of justice.
Our request is that you consider two options.
Exclude Carollo’s physical presence outright of this special/extraordinary meeting.
If Carollo does appear, do not sit on the same side of the table with him while he attempts to threaten city officials and the Chief of Police.
Stand with the man who came from far to restore Peace and Justice in our city. Your choices, your words, or lack of will be on record and noted if you decide to continue to allow a stage and a microphone from which Carollo uses to lash out at honest hardworking public servants. We fully trust you will make the right decision on that day by banishing his violence. The city is not only watching but will respect and follow you all if you decide to do just that.
Be on the right side of history by not allowing this monster to continue to strike fear in our community. We are here to stand with you all and up to him. He will know that what he has done and continues to do, regardless of Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s decision, will not be accepted nor tolerated any longer. You all have worked a great deal in your career’s to be tarnished by standing with evil. Let’s stand with the Chief, let’s stand for Carollo’s wife, let’s stand together against Domestic Violence and believe us, as sure as the sun rises and shines every morning, if you don’t, the city will remember. This is the time for change and we hope that each of you lead us with courage as you so far have done.
We thank each of you for your unwavering support and dedication to this city thus far. You can count with our sincerest gratitude if you make the right decision when it comes to Carollo. We will remind everyone where good and evil stand. We trust you will make the right decisions in your hearts on this very special/extraordinary occasion.
Too many corrupt Cubans in Miami. Too many corrupt cops. Too many corrupt politicians like Joe Carollo, Alex D, Manny Reyes, Francis Suarez, disgraced ex-Mayor Manny Diaz, the drunk Joe Martinez, low IQ Bruno Barrerio…the list goes on. The problem is new Chief Acevedo did not kiss the asses of the corrupt Cubans who arrived in Miami before he did. Joe Carollo is just mad Acevedo did not kiss his ass.
He doesn’t work for the Cuban Mafia! He works for SATAN’S MAFIA! SUAREZ! He needs to go! Both need to go!
And the only one using the police as body guards and personal drivers is SUAREZ.
The biggest problem of Miami!
Thank God for Carollo! Only man with a pair of balls!
I agree with hold not have a department of of Cubans. 100% agree!
A lot of people who “hated” Deputy Papier (who is not Cuban) would trade him in a heart beat for this liar. The Papier’s never lied about having an accident. Nerly pulled up to the station with her 2 flat tires 2 minutes after it happened! Unlike Chief Acevedo who is lying he damaged his city issued vehicle. Maybe Tillman did it when he let him use his City sponsored car.
Best thing that could happen here , happen to Hispanics in Miami is to fire half or more of Hispanic cops , replace them with Anglo cops from further north in the state so we can have a real police dept.
NEVER local Hispanic police chiefs who have zero concept of accountability from mostly lazy flunky troops who spend most of their shifts hanging out gossiping , texting like 12 year old kids .
White Hispanics in Miami text away while driving right in front of these flunkies . You will ONLY see that here in Miami .
My parents are further north in the state and the Anglo police there don’t care if you have blonde hair and blue eyes do not try that there .
GPS on vehicles yet never monitored here so yes the Cuban MAFIA which Acevedo meant as status quo has not been good for Miami , for Cubans , for anyone .
This dept is a disgrace .I think Acevedo wanted to clean it up , have some accountability but the Banana Republic policia do not want that plus the Commissioners use the police as bodyguards , chauffeurs , etc and we pay for it so they do not want anyone to rock the banana boat .
Having said this he should not have been the person bought in due to what happened when he was in California Highway Patrol. That should have ended his career .
Miami is affirmative action for us Cubans which is why a Cuban chief was bought in , I find this mentality a self defeating disaster that many support .