Miami Police chief wonders if some fatal shootings ‘could ha

[NewsHound]

Miami Police chief wonders if some fatal shootings ‘could have been avoided’

From MiamiHerald.com

With Miami police facing a federal civil rights investigation, the acting chief says he has already started overhauling the department, including cutting the size of tactical units responsible for at least four of the recent seven fatal shootings of black men.

The makeover comes as the U.S. Justice Department starts a probe of Miami officers’ use of deadly force in the shootings. The investigation will focus, in part, on ex-Chief Miguel Exposito’s expansion of plainclothes units that aggressively target robbers, gangs and other street criminals.

“Philosophically, I have a different point of view than Exposito,’’ acting Chief Manuel Orosa told The Miami Herald. “Quite frankly, I’m concerned some of the shootings could have been avoided by not putting our officers in those situations.’’

Orosa said he told Justice Department attorneys that their probe was “a no-brainer. What if seven cops were shot instead of civilians?’’

Orosa, on the job since September, told The Miami Herald that he has slashed the number of employees assigned to the tactical units to levels last seen in 2009, when John Timoney was chief.

By the end of November, 30 officers, 40 public service aides and two sergeants working in tactical units will be transferred to uniform patrol positions in Neighborhood Enhancement Teams spread across the city. That’s significantly less than the number working tactical jobs under Exposito, Orosa said.

Miami’s gang and street-suppression units have historically been criticized for having a cowboy mentality, sometimes leading to violent confrontations that have landed them in trouble — or even in jail. Exposito, however, staunchly defended their use as a necessary and effective tool in his department’s battle against well-armed street criminals.

Orosa has a different perspective, however, more in line with Timoney’s strategies.

He also said the department’s policies on deadly force — to be scrutinized by the feds — are not the root of the problem. Rather, it’s how officers are deployed and whether they follow the rules.

“Our policies and procedures haven’t changed since Timoney,” said Orosa, who replaced Exposito in September, after Exposito was fired for insubordination. Orosa, repeating an issue raised in an earlier review by a retired FBI chief, also questioned whether many of the young gang and robbery officers involved in the shootings had received enough training. “Traditionally, for any specialized unit, you want your senior officers there,” he said.

The police department’s deployment, training and policies all will be scrutinized in the civil rights probe, which will focus on the seven deadly shootings that began in July 2010 and ended in February in Overtown, Little Haiti and Allapattah. The slayings raised tensions in the inner city and sparked demands for an independent review.

The civil investigation, known as a “pattern or practice” probe, is designed to determine if systemic flaws made the shootings more likely, rather than unfortunate, last-choice actions, as the department maintains.

Thomas E. Perez, head of Justice’s civil rights division, said Thursday in Miami that Justice began a preliminary inquiry in March after receiving complaints from the African-American community, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson and the mayor.

“Our work is not a gotcha exercise,” Perez said during a press conference at the U.S. attorney’s office. “Our goal is not to fix the blame; rather, our goal is to fix any problems we may identify in a comprehensive fashion.”

Miami U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer reinforced that view: “For a police department to be effective, they must have the trust of those they serve.”

The officials met with Mayor Tomás Regalado, City Manager Johnny Martinez and Orosa on Thursday morning, hours before the press conference announcing the new investigation.

In the afternoon, more than a dozen community activists and the family of one slain man met with Ferrer, Perez and other Justice lawyers.

Federal authorities confirmed they’re also evaluating two of the fatal shootings for possible criminal civil rights violations. No weapons were found at the shooting scenes of DeCarlos Moore and Travis McNeil.

The seven shooting deaths all occurred under Exposito’s watch. As the numbers grew, the public clamored for answers, begging for transparency from police and the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office.

Exposito was terminated in September after a stormy two-year term. He had refused to turn over information to a civilian oversight panel when it demanded details on the first shooting, of Moore, 36, in Overtown in July 2010.

McNeil, 28, the last of the victims, was shot to death Feb. 10 in his car in Little Haiti. The officer said McNeil was driving erratically.

“Travis’ death is still so fresh in my mind,” his mother, Sheila McNeil, said outside the U.S. attorney’s office. “I just want some answers.”

She blamed Exposito for the seven deaths. “To me, he’s the boss,” she said. “He could have put a stop to this a long time ago.”

In a press statement, Exposito defended his tenure as chief.

He said he let FBI agents and Justice officials monitor his department’s internal shooting reviews. He also said that his beefed-up tactical operations reduced crime, and expressed regret that a different policy is being pursued by his successor, Orosa.

“The dismantling of an effective Miami Police Department has begun at the behest of the city’s administrator and other politicians who have no police experience and are simply doing what is politically expedient,” said Exposito, who had a running feud with Regalado.

“I trust that this is not an attempt by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to politicize what should otherwise be an apolitical process,” he wrote.

The probe marks the second time in a decade federal authorities have conducted an investigation into alleged systemic violations of constitutional rights by Miami police officers.

In 2002, Justice conducted a much broader civil probe, concluding in 2003 that the department had serious flaws in the way it conducted searches and seizures, used firearms, defined use of force and worked with police dogs. The inquiry began at the city’s request after several controversial police shootings.

By 2006, Justice officials said in a letter to then-chief Timoney that “all of our concerns have been appropriately addressed.”

In the recent shootings, the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office has closed two criminal reviews, clearing the Miami officers who fired.

The other men killed by police were Joell Lee Johnson, Tarnorris Tyrell Gaye, Gibson Junior Belizaire, Brandon Foster, Lynn Weatherspoon, and McNeil, who was followed by police from a lounge on Northwest 79th Street. McNeil’s friend, Kareem Williams, was shot, too, but survived.

Miami defense attorney William Matthewman, who represents four Miami officers involved in the shootings, said he welcomed the Justice Department’s civil rights investigation.

“If it will answer the questions of members of our community who are concerned about the police shootings, then it is a good thing, as long as it is done in a professional, fair and unbiased manner,” he said.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/17/v ... z1e5E69d51

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Orosa is in plain english a Dumb Mother F***er.

he had the balls to stand in front of the commission and say If a criminal with a gun see's a plain clothes officer jump out of an unmarked car he will shoot that officer, to protect his dope hole. but if he see's a marked police car he will run away.

Orosa you knit wit...what about stopping crime, what about arresting that criminal with the gun rather than let him run away to shoot someone else. Protecting dope holes is Okay? shooting people is okay?

in the 7 shootings that we had under Expo please tell me what shooting matched that senerio you stated....never mind because it was none of them


your concerned that some of those shootings didn't have to happen if the officers wern't in those situations????????????
would you have rather it was a civilian that was shot by one of the armed criminals? or another officer who came into contact with one of those criminals and wasn't aware he was armed until it was too late.

All I can say is that this department is falling deeper and deeper into a hole that it will take a lifetime to get out of. people like Orosa and the mayor will let the criminals run rampant and police officers will be getting hurt or killed before a proactive stance is taken.

Reading these posts makes me wonder what's going on down there. Every chief in Miami's history had some positive and negative - but thats to be expected. As long as they all are doing what is best for their rank and file, and the community, well then thats all one can ask for. Support your chief and each other - MPD is worth it.

I LOVE THAT WE LIVE IN A DRUG FILLED VIOLENT CITY IS LEFT OUT OF THE EQUATION AND DIRTY POLITICS FILL IN THE BLANKS. WHAT A CROCK OF BS!!! WHEN ARE ALL OF THESE POLITICAL WHO RES GOING TO BLAIM VIOLENCE ON THOSE WITHIN THE INNER CITY THAT HABITUALLY RAPE THIS CITY??????????? LESS THEN ONE PERCENT OF SHOOTINGS ARE COMMITED BY POLICE THAT RESTRAIN THEMSELVES FROM SHOOTING THOUSANDS OF TIMES.

WHEN ARE CRIMINALS GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE????

Reading these posts makes me wonder what's going on down there. Every chief in Miami's history had some positive and negative - but thats to be expected. As long as they all are doing what is best for their rank and file, and the community, well then thats all one can ask for. Support your chief and each other - MPD is worth it.

Mr. Retired, you Sir are lucky to be out. it has got so bad here that I am vested and now looking to go to another department. I for one cannot stand to see what has happened to this department. As far as being a great police department and great cops...we lost alot of ground with Timoney, took a couple of steps forward with Exposito...now it will for sure be a huge jump backwards with Orosa.

the grass my not be greener on the other side but I will have to find out for myself. I honestly can't see anything being much worse.

have you noticed that so far every time chief orosa has been quoted in the media he has always put down an officer?

this chief is going to screw the troops every chanch he gets