Lt. Joe FIRED???

If the Chief has the power to hire and fire police officers then she can't supervise her husband regardless if he is on a taskforce. According to the state nepotism law one of them has to leave. So long Artie! The council took good care of that by not overruling the chiefs decision to fire without thier consent or approval. Now it four officers without a job. How does it feel ?

You can bypass that law by stopping his chain of command before it reaches her. It's been done in many other depts.

If the Chief has the power to hire and fire police officers then she can't supervise her husband regardless if he is on a taskforce. According to the state nepotism law one of them has to leave. So long Artie! The council took good care of that by not overruling the chiefs decision to fire without thier consent or approval. Now it four officers without a job. How does it feel ?

You can bypass that law by stopping his chain of command before it reaches her. It's been done in many other depts.

Im sure the attorney put it on the record because he is going to pursue it. He had a previous case with a police agency and won. Oh by the way the officer in question was also on a taskforce.

Medley council upholds police lieutenant's firing
By BILL DALEY/Assistant Editor

River Cities Gazette

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/14/3 ... rylink=cpy


For two days last week, the Medley Town Hall chambers took on the look of a courtroom.

In a setting straight out of an episode of “Law & Order,” it was high legal drama at its most intense as the town called a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9. The agenda for the Town of Medley and Chief of Police Jeanette Said-Jinete was to hear an appeal from recently terminated Medley Police Lt. Joe Olmedo and his legal team.

There were many players in this drama. There was a team of attorneys for the town, including lead counsel Ben Kuehne. There was Jose “Pepe” Herrera, who many know as the regular legal counsel for the Village of Virginia Gardens, as Olmedo’s legal representation. There was a court stenographer. There was Town Attorney Michael Pizzi, who served as the hearing officer — or judge, if you will. And there was a Medley town council that was instructed by Pizzi to sit and listen and serve as nothing more than a jury before eventually taking a vote and rendering a decision.

When it was finally over — and we stress the word “finally” — the council, with virtually no discussion, voted unanimously to uphold Said-Jinete’s decision to terminate Olmedo.

But between the start and finish there was lots of drama and fighting between the two sides in front of an emotional chamber filled with support for both sides.

What originally was supposed to be something that was to take not much more than three or four hours on a Wednesday evening morphed into something much larger. By the time midnight arrived, 61?2 hours after the meeting began, attorneys from both sides huddled with Pizzi and determined that too much testimony still awaited and postponed things until 4:30 p.m. the next day.

But, with Chief Said-Jinete and Olmedo both in the witness chair subject to direct, cross-examination and re-direct, things went well into the evening again and it was 12:20 a.m. the next morning before the council finally rendered its verdict.

“Personnel decision reviews by public officials are the most difficult decisions of all,” Kuehne said following the conclusion of the two-day hearing. “They involve real consequences to people that are known. It’s sad that the situation came to this but the council acted very fairly, listened to every bit of evidence and determined that the police chief has to run the police department in order to protect and serve and she has done so and this decision was a recognition that she’s running the department the way it should be run.”

At the heart of the case was what started as nothing more than a routine, non-injury traffic accident involving a Medley police cruiser and Hialeah resident Leovigildo Fraga on the night of Aug. 8, 2011 at the intersection of Northwest 72nd Avenue and Northwest South River Drive.

The video from a security camera that had recently been placed at the intersection that was eventually played on a screen showed Medley officer Freddy Romero traveling northbound on 72nd at 11 p.m. that night when he went to make a left turn onto northbound South River Drive. Fraga’s car, traveling straight and heading southbound, collided with the police cruiser as it made the left.

Even though it appeared that Fraga had the right of way, he was charged with causing the accident, arrested for driving with a suspended license, forced to take a breathilizer test twice (blowing zeros both times), booked into the Hialeah Police Department before eventually being transferred to Medley, and had his car impounded.

With Said-Jinete out of town that week, Olmedo was the acting chief in her absence. The next day he handed the police report to Cary Rubiera, the chief’s executive assistant. The report was stamped “unapproved” and deemed the accident “non-preventable,” thus Romero, who had been involved in three previous cruiser-related accidents, was not cited for the accident.

According to Rubiera’s testimony, Olmedo instructed her to fax it to the insurance company, even though that process normally takes 30 to 60 days. Olmedo later would deny that she was instructed to send it to the insurance company.

Olmedo did notify Said-Jinete the day after the accident to inform her of what had happened, but upon her return a week later Said-Jinete admitted that she never really looked into the incident since it was non-injury-related and that a suicide involving a local resident had occupied her time.

It was only upon being notified by the Medley legal department a month later that Said-Jinete began to suspect that something was wrong.

The legal department informed Said-Jinete that it had been contacted by the insurance company, citing the unusual nature in which they had received the report (less than 24 hours after the accident rather than the standard 30 to 60 days).

“It was at that point that I started to look into it and became uncomfortable with all of the irregularities that turned up,” said Said-Jinete. “It certainly would have been easier to not have had to go through this process and had it investigated the way it was. I wouldn’t have had the stress, the headaches, but that’s not me and I don’t think that’s what you put me in this position for. That’s why I’m the chief of police and have been serving this city proudly for 28 years.”

According to her testimony, the chief eventually suspended Olmedo, Romero and Sgt. Jorge Perez (who filled out the report) in late September 2011 with pay pending a full investigation.

Said-Jinete then said she began to feel more uncomfortable to the point where she approached Hialeah Chief of Police Mark Overton about his department conducting an independent investigation.

Eventually Benny Merino, head of the Traffic Homicide Department for Hialeah, was brought in to conduct the investigation, which would take close to one calendar year.

After reading his 95-page report, submitted on Sept. 5, 2012, Said-Jinete then terminated all three officers.

In the case of Olmedo, her reasons for termination were, according to her report:

• You falsified, or caused another person to falsify, an official document or record of the Medley Police Department.
• You made a false statement under oath in the course of your official duties, which you do not believe to be true.
• You made a false statement in writing with the intent to mislead a public servant.
• You failed to perform your assigned duties and responsibilities consistent with department policies and procedures through negligence, incompetence, and/or willful misconduct.
• You failed to properly supervise subordinate offices in the performance of their duties.

Eventually, Merino took the witness seat — Town Clerk Herlina Taboada swore in each witness under oath — to defend his report. Herrera worked him hard and eventually got him to admit that nowhere among those 95 pages did anything indicate that Olmedo had broken any laws or violated any codes of conduct.

Herrera also took issue and harped on the fact that Said-Jinete was herself the complainant, initiating the process, thus she should have eventually recused herself from evaluating the review and used a third party. In essence, Herrera claimed she acted as judge, jury and executioner. He also claimed that she, according to the Town Charter, had no right to terminate Olmedo without council approval.

He hammered Said-Jinete when she eventually took the witness seat, implying favoritism based on nepotism and attempted to discredit her by noting she had never held a rank of sergeant or lieutenant in the department before eventually being named to her post. Eventually, things got so heated, she lashed out at Herrera.

“You’re rude, you’re rude in your e-mails, you’re rude to this council and to my department,” said Said-Jinete. “I’m just tired of it, it’s wrong. You don’t need to be treating me this way or the way you treated Cary (Rubiera) last night.”

The key moment in Said-Jinete’s testimony came when she told of a meeting she had with Olmedo upon initially looking into the incident in which Olmedo stated as he was getting up to leave, “I f*#@*d up, you can demote me or send me to the range if you have to.” Olmedo later denied that he said that.

“My biggest problem about this was that this was something that could have gotten turned around,” said Said-Jinete. “Yes, anyone can make mistakes, but that’s not the way that this was handled. Nobody admitted to any mistakes, denied that there was an arrest. Lt. Olmedo in his position reviewed the report (but) should not have approved the report if he saw something wrong with it and fixed it. That never happened.”

When both attorneys finally concluded with their closing arguments, Pizzi instructed the council of their three options — affirm the chief’s dismissal, modify the dismissal to some other sanction, or reverse the dismissal entirely.

Surprisingly, despite close to 15 hours of testimony, there was no discussion among council members.

Vice Mayor Griselia Digiacomo quickly made the motion to affirm the chief’s dismissal, which was then followed by a good pause of 10 to 15 seconds without the motion being seconded. Pizzi then began to explain to the council that a second was needed in order to take a vote before Councilman Jack Morrow leaned up and stated, “I’ll second the motion.”

Roll call was then taken and those two, along with Susanna Guasch, Edgar Ayala and Mayor Roberto Martell all voted yes.

Perhaps wiped out and emotionally spent, the crowd, which was still there past midnight both nights, never even reacted. Just some hugs and quiet tears for Olmedo from his wife and supporters and a few handshakes on the other side was all that was left to define the moment.

“I’m surprised,” Herrera said in the parking lot on the way to his car. “You had a 22-year veteran on the force and I honestly figured that the council would look at the history and the career of this officer and do something, perhaps some sort of reprimand or counseling … you don’t terminate a 22-year veteran over this. Not with the manner with which the investigation was conducted. It troubled me that there was no immediate willingness to second the initial motion and then a second came up out of left field, but I guess that’s just part of the process.”

Herrera did say, and his client agreed, that this battle is not over.

“We have a pending action seeking a declaration that the manner in which this was handled violated the town charter. I’ve actually had private residents that have asked to join as plaintiffs in that case and I’ll have to evaluate if my clients want to go through with it.”

“Obviously I was very disappointed with the outcome,” said Olmedo. “I felt the town council, what they did was they confirmed the authority that the chief does not possess under the town charter and will continue to pursue my two lawsuits against the city and will include the mayor and all of the council members involved in that lawsuit because they violated the town charter and pursuant to their own rules, contradicted themselves from their ordinance, so I will seek further judicial relief from a circuit court and will appeal their decision to a circuit court judge.”

According to Pizzi, the other two dismissed officers (Romero and Perez) have also appealed their terminations but, unlike Olmedo, they are taking their respective cases directly to an independent arbitrator and will have their appeals heard at a later date.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/14/v ... rylink=cpy

Published on Tuesday, April 30, 2013

BY THEO KARANTSALIS

SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD


Two fired Medley police officers have settled their wrongful-termination lawsuit against the town.

“Our names have been cleared,” said former Medley police Lt. Joe Olmedo, who was abruptly fired by the police chief last September along with Sgt. Jorge Perez and Officer Freddy Romero after being accused of a traffic-accident coverup.

Olmedo and Perez reached a settlement with the town on April?22. Romero had an arbitration hearing on April?24, and an opinion is forthcoming.

“The matter was settled amicably,” said Councilman Jack Morrow, referring to the town’s settlement with Olmedo and Perez. “They are leaving on good terms, and I wish them both a lot of luck.”

Michael Pizzi, Medley’s town attorney, did not return repeated calls or emails seeking comment.

Last October, The Miami Herald reported that the three officers filed a lawsuit against Medley because the police chief fired them “without any power to do so under the town charter,” records show.

The officers asserted that only the town council had the authority to fire them and pointed to their collective-bargaining agreement.

“This is a great result after the dog-and-pony show we went through,” said Jose Hererra, who was referring to the 10 hours of testimony he went through over two days at town hall last fall that resulted in a 5-0 vote by council to uphold Olmedo’s firing.

Hererra, who is the town attorney of neighboring Virginia Gardens, filed two lawsuits and mountains of motions on behalf of the officers.

Though he won’t be returning to work in Medley, Olmedo said he is brushing up his résumé to seek a position with another department.

Olmedo said he is “very happy” with the terms of the April?22 settlement, but he would not elaborate, citing a confidentiality clause.

“These fine officers now have great futures ahead of them,” Hererra said.

Well now we know the truth. It all came out at last nights council meeting. There was NO settlement. The two senior offiicers were allowed to retire and in exchange they dropped the lawsuits against the town. That obviously isn't a settlement. More like let's take our retirement and run! Now the junior officer is still in arbitration. Let's see what he gets.

:devil:

Dont believe everything you hear at meetings. Alot of details were left out as not to further shame the town and its leaders. You forgot to mention the discipline was reversed clearing their records. They were fully reinstated with back pay and benefits along with retirements and health insurance benefits. Keep on hating thats all you got left.

sometimes its not even worth trying to tell all of theses assholes the truth. I plan to leave this shit hole soon. im so disgusted to work with most of you all. You are all the same. Joe I truly wish you and your family well, I wish the same for Jorge and Fredy.

Well now we know the truth. It all came out at last nights council meeting. There was NO settlement. The two senior offiicers were allowed to retire and in exchange they dropped the lawsuits against the town. That obviously isn't a settlement. More like let's take our retirement and run! Now the junior officer is still in arbitration. Let's see what he gets.

:devil:

Here goes artie again or one of her little followers that owe their jobs b/c they aren't qualified enough to get things on their own....

it's evidant that there was a settlement. If there wasn't they would be taking this to court. If medley had even one little chance to win they would take this to court and be done with these officers. but after the chiefs mess ups and especially after the LT's appeal where IT ALL CAME OUT... those medley attorneys were petrified to put all these losers on the stand. The LT was the only one that sounded professional and put together. The so called detective, we all know is an idiot, Captain kangaroo has no spine, just following whatever the chief told him to do and from the looks of it, of course he would do as she says she probably promised him the position in the end and let's not even mention the chief, who lost it on the stand... so unprofessional.

so artie or whoever you are.... how about you shut your mouth and shine the LT's gold retired badge as he's advancing his career (which we all knew would happen) and you sit in that hell hole riding on the coat tails of your old lady (literally) When her time is up, so will yours. and you are nothing. your pea brain can't even pass a sgt's exam.

I"m sure the LT and Sgt are more than happy with their settelement. I'm sure they never had intentions of returning. Who would want to???? THey will move on to bigger and better things. COngrats guys! we knew the truth would come out bro and you guys would be fine. It's sad it took so long and that you and your families had to endure this but at least you guys had your happy ending. I know freddy will be ok too. That will be the icing on the cake.

Check out the you tube video on the settlement.... HILARIOUS. Pizzi sounded like Taylor Swift...."the officers will NEVER EVER EVER...." LOL. what an idiot.
It's more like the officers DON'T EVER EVER EVER want to step foot in that disaster of a place.

[quote=get it right]

Well now we know the truth. It all came out at last nights council meeting. There was NO settlement. The two senior offiicers were allowed to retire and in exchange they dropped the lawsuits against the town. That obviously isn't a settlement. More like let's take our retirement and run! Now the junior officer is still in arbitration. Let's see what he gets.

:devil:

Here goes artie again or one of her little followers that owe their jobs b/c they aren't qualified enough to get things on their own....

it's evidant that there was a settlement. If there wasn't they would be taking this to court. If medley had even one little chance to win they would take this to court and be done with these officers. but after the chiefs mess ups and especially after the LT's appeal where IT ALL CAME OUT... those medley attorneys were petrified to put all these losers on the stand. The LT was the only one that sounded professional and put together. The so called detective, we all know is an idiot, Captain kangaroo has no spine, just following whatever the chief told him to do and from the looks of it, of course he would do as she says she probably promised him the position in the end and let's not even mention the chief, who lost it on the stand... so unprofessional.

so artie or whoever you are.... how about you shut your mouth and shine the LT's gold retired badge as he's advancing his career (which we all knew would happen) and you sit in that hell hole riding on the coat tails of your old lady (literally) When her time is up, so will yours. and you are nothing. your pea brain can't even pass a sgt's exam.

I"m sure the LT and Sgt are more than happy with their settelement. I'm sure they never had intentions of returning. Who would want to???? THey will move on to bigger and better things. COngrats guys! we knew the truth would come out bro and you guys would be fine. It's sad it took so long and that you and your families had to endure this but at least you guys had your happy ending. I know freddy will be ok too. That will be the icing on the cake.

Check out the you tube video on the settlement.... HILARIOUS. Pizzi sounded like Taylor Swift...."the officers will NEVER EVER EVER...." LOL. what an idiot.
It's more like the officers DON'T EVER EVER EVER want to step foot in that disaster of a place.[/quote:h729u4ez]


Your arguing over the same thing. A settlement is a mutual agreement within the parties.

How do you know that they agreed to let them retire, and be done with the whole thing.

don't you see that they "agreed" to drop the lawsuit if their names were cleared of any wrong doing, (among other things that i'm sure they were given)

obviously if their names are CLEARED and they were reinstated, then they are INNOCENT!
HELLOOOOOOOOOOO???????
Do you really think the city or the dept would settle unless they knew they messed up???
Unless they knew they had no chance to win the case in court?
C'mon!!!!!


those dudes just can "NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER" go back to that craphole.... (LOL! Mike Pizzi wanna be Taylor swift)

but who would want to??????? more than half the people that are there now are actively looking for another job