He’s out!
Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo was booted Monday from the job he’s had for only six months, in the wake of serious accusations he made against three commissioners and resistance to reform measures he tried to initiate within the police department.
This was expected and has been in the works for weeks. Noriega will have a list of grievances to try to make the termination of employment for cause, so the city doesn’t have to pay Acevedo six months severance pay. Politicians will blame the unfortunate “Cuban mafia” statement that the chief made during roll call, which has been taken out of context and for which he apologized.
But commissioners have really just been looking for an excuse to dump Acevedo, ever since he was recruited by the mayor and hired in April by the manager without so much as a glance in the commission’s direction. After all, they were in the process of interviewing other hopefuls who had actually applied. They wanted some power in this.
Then Acevedo had the gall to actually take control of the department, shake up the stagnant leadership that has been looking the other way for years, bring higher standards for use of force and cut the leaks and ties to the city commission, including relieving of duty a sergeant at arms who was allegedly leaking information about Mayor Francis Suarez to Carollo (more on that later). He fired the highest ranking coupled — Interim Chief Ronald Papier and his wife Nerly Papier — after they allegedly lied to cover up an accident she had in her police-issued SUV.
Know more: Inquisition of Miami Police chief continues with steps to have him fired
City Manager Art Noriega actually “suspended” Acevedo Monday, but in his statement he said he intends to fire him. Apparently the city charter calls for a suspension first.
“The relationship between the chief and the organization has become untenable and needed to be resolved promptly,” Noriega said in a statement released late Monday. “In particular, the relationship between the chief and the police department he leads — as well as with the community — has deteriorated beyond repair.”
The Fraternal Order of Police wants Acevedo fired and members took a vote of no confidence in the chief.
“Relationships between employer and employees come down to fit and leadership style and unfortunately, Chief Acevedo is not a right fit for this organization,” Noriega said, adding that Assistant Chief Manny Morales — who, by the way, was one of the applicants and finalists for the job — will be interim chief as the city “engages in a search” for a permanent replacement.
So, it had nothing to do with the chief accusing the Three Amigos of misconduct?
Know more: Chief Art Acevedo fight back, reports misconduct by Miami city electeds
Last month, Acevedo wrote an 8-page memo to the manager accusing Commissioners Joe Carollo, Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes of interfering with internal affairs and other police operations and using the police and code enforcement offices as their personal goon squads.
This memo might have been a pre-emptive move by Acevedo to position himself as a whistleblower. Carollo had already asked for a special meeting to discuss the chief’s actions and future. It was the first of two special meetings where Loco Joe, Diaz de la Portilla and Reyes spent hours laying into every little aspect of Acevedo’s career — both here and before he got here — and making their own allegations.
It’s also had some strong ripple effects, including a $28 million lawsuit against the city and Carollo for targeting businesses on Calle Ocho that the commissioner believed had helped his 2017 opponent. Then there’s the FBI investigation into the commissioners’ abuse of office and the Department of Justice being alerted to some possible use of excessive force cases.
Those things aren’t going to go away, the infamous memo isn’t going to suddenly disappear, when Acevedo is fired. And this comes less than two weeks after Noriega asked the chief for an action plan moving forward. Was that just more theater? Had he already decided (read: been told to) fire the chief?
Know more: Police Chief Art Acevedo sets ‘reset button’ after accusing Miami electeds
The commission might have to approve Acevedo’s termination. That won’t be a problem. Even Commissioner Ken Russell has said that there may not be a way to repair these relationships. Ladra said so, too. There’s no such thing as a reset button big enough for this mess.
In his own goodbye message to his troops, Acevedo on Monday thanked officers and civilian employees not only for their service but for their “warmth and spirit” and invited them to call him if he could be of service.
Acevedo also hinted that he’s not abandoning them entirely.
“I promise to continue to fight the good fight to rid MPD of the political interference from City Hall that unfortunately continues to negatively impact this organization,” he wrote.
So, does that mean he’s going to be working somewhere else, maybe for the FBI or FDLE, investigating the allegations that he made?
It certainly doesn’t seem like we’ve heard the last of him.
Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo is out, vows to keep fighting Miami corruption added by Ladra on
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