Keep faith

I want to start off by saying that I created this post as I wanted to state my general opinion on this matter. I am a law enforcement officer in Miami Dade County and although I know we make mistakes sometimes it is very important that the actual facts be portrayed rather than only some details that sound corrupt in general. My take is the following:

1. Officer Romero was involved in a traffic accident, no doubt. I am not familiar with the Town of Medley nor that intersection. The video portrays the officer being at fault for the accident. But what the video does not show is the actual display of the traffic signal. Also what has not been mentioned is what the nature of the officer being in that area. Was he conducting normal patrol activities or was he responding for a call of service? It is certain the officer was not traveling in emergency mode which is clearly noted.
2. The aftermath of the accident is very scarce. One thing I did observe was the text book conduct of the officer in activating the lights and conducting a pat down of the other party. The officer has received several negative comments on the above. Taking in the environment and the circumstances everyone has to understand that being an involved party in a traffic crash is very irritating and frustrating, no matter who is at fault. Just like initiating a traffic stop, as a police officer you do not know who you are encountering. You have to perceive that the other party was in some way angry at the circumstances and as a police officer, no matter the situation, your safety is paramount to everything, therefore the pat down was not only reasonable, but given the fact that the accident took place in a dark deserted area, it was a great move.
3. Back up officers responded to the scene and then it’s all hearsay from there. It is stated that Officer Romero performed FST’s on the driver. Why? Media outlets have posted the driver had red eyes and slurred speech, both indicators of driving while impaired. Was there a scent of alcohol on the person’s breath? The answer to this has not been cited. Regardless, the symptoms above make the performed FST’s reasonable. But, why was the involved Officer executing the test? This was a mistake. The involved officer should have been in the cut somewhere answering questions not being involved in the investigation. Although the actions are not illegal, it should be a violation of policy. The supervisor should have not allowed this.
4. The driver fails the FST’s and is placed into custody. Completely legal. He is then taken to a DUI Room where he provided breath samples which yielded .0000. Ok. The sample gets measured for alcohol volume. If no alcohol as in the drivers system could it be possible that he was impaired by medication or other narcotic? Was a Drug Recognition requested? I am not certain, but the driver was then released. So in a nutshell the PO’s had every reason to arrest the driver. The Driver was allowed the opportunity to clear himself which he took and actually cleared himself at which point the officers released him back at the arrest location. SUPER LEGAL!. A Bolo goes out for an armed robbery subject in the area. You observe a subject matching the exact description walking. As an officer you draw your firearm, give loud verbal commands, and take the subject into custody. Is it an arrest, no but the person is not free to leave so he is under police custody. A show up is conducted and the victim says that is not the subject. You let him the person go at that time. What is the difference?
5. The driver is then cited for being at fault. Who wrote the ticket and on what grounds? Only the investigating officer can answer that. Did the driver take the citation to court? If so what was the outcome? Nothing has been said about this issue?
6. Cover up? I don’t think so. Inaccurate police work, maybe. People are stating this case is similar to the Hollywood case. Is there clear evidence of the officers doing a little Walt Disney? Not that I have seen.
7. Political attack? Who knows?

To the 3 officers who were terminated,
My prayers are with you and your families. You guys are going through a very hard time right now and I can only say to you to try to be strong. Justice will prevail and so will you guys. Keep in mind that we live in very open minded times. The acts of some officers in the past make us all look bad and when something portrayed comparable as in your case, everyone thinks the worst. I am here to tell you that unlike the rest of the naïve people out there that will not offer you the opportunity for you to explain yourselves, please know that not only am I but also I am pulling for you guys as well. Do not feed into the media as when was the last time any media outlet put out any positive news about law enforcement? It’s been a while. That’s the way it is. It has to be hard to know that you are being questioned by everyone, unfortunately it comes with the territory. Believe in the system, although sometimes flawed, I truly believe you guys will come out of this just fine. At least you know now that other than your families you all have one more supporter. Good Luck, be patient, it will all work out.

Thank you for supporting our brothers. Officers like you make me proud of wearing my blues. Now its pretty sad that in our work place we have our officers that jump that gun and believe that they are guilty. I work for MPD and I hear some bs talk, and they forget it could be one of them or even myself one day. For the three keep fighting.
Medley’s Officer

Dear Supporter,

I have never read such a fair, intelligent blog in my life.
Just to answer some of your questions,

Freddy Romero was on regular patrol that night.

Freddy Romero did not perform the FST. Fernando Perez did. The Sgt. called for him, so there would be a 3rd party involved. Noone knows this, becauase Fernando Perez is the chiefs ex-brother in law and she did not make him part of this investigation.

A drug request was asked for by Fernando Perez, the only person available for that was on a call and would not be able to clear for another 2 hrs. There is evidence of all of this, since he called it in on the radio.

The case was dropped in court b/c the police officers were suspended. They were not allowed to show up in court. However, funny that the chief allowed the Sgt. to still participate in a 1 week CIT training while he was suspended but not go to court.

The driver also had a suspended DL prior to this accident. The driver admitted to having beer that night.

The video doesn't show the entire incident b/c of course the chief only gave the media what she wanted to give them. However, the video shows the crash and the driver backing up and crashing against the police car a second time. Maybe he was confused, maybe he was nervous, maybe he was asleep at the wheel, maybe he was trying to flee and changed his mind. we don't know.

I think we can all read between the lines and see why this happened to these innocent officers. It's like their lawyer says, it's an obvious witch hunt. It's sad that these officers have had to go through this, but as you said... Justice will prevail.

Stay strong men, the truth will come out.ans

The termination was unlawful.

With the upcoming municipal elections occurring, the Chief of Police made extraordinary strides to remove her competition by concocting this story. Her competition you ask?? Lt. Joseph Olmedo !! Already a Town favorite amongst Councilpersons, the Community and the rest of the Officers.

At no time was there a conspiracy to cover anything up. So much so that the Defendant in question was taken to the Hialeah PD station and then returned to the scene and released on his own recognizance once it was determined that driver fatgue, not alcohol, was the source of the Defendant’s impairment.

Additionally, the driver had a suspended driver license. The Defendant and Officer Romero crash as a result of the Defendant entering this section of roadway from an illegal direction, causing the crash to occur as a result of reduced visibility

With the authority and blessing of the current Mayor and under the direction of Town Attorney Mike Pizzi, Chief Said-Jinete wifully violates the Town Charter and has the three officers terminated after arriving at her very own conclusion about the case.

As follows (excerpt of Town Charter):
–
Sec. 35-29. – Removal of personnel.

All police officers serving under the Chief of Police or any other personnel of the Police Department shall serve at the will of the Town Council and may be removed with or without cause as a majority of the Town Council shall decide, the majority being the affirmative vote of three Councilmembers.
–

This is CLEAR!

The investigation of the crash was never the real reason for their termination. This is a smokescreen to cover up her real motives.

Why did the media not expose her wilful violation of the Town Charter as reflected above? The Town Council did not meet and decide these Officer’s fates in accordance with law.

The truth must be told and exposed to the public. There was no cover up, in fact, a careful and forensic review of the entire case may even expose that the conspiracy lies on behalf of the Chief, the Town Attorney and their chosen cronies, to remove Lt. Olmedo and prohibit the incoming Council from appointing Olmedo as Chief and removing her for confirmed and wilfilfull malfeasence

Hello, glad to be back. As you know by now my name is Professor Read thru the bullshit Jones. I'm currently teaching sicology at the university of " PEPE attorney of Mucho Mistakes" I would like all of you to know that I have just received and read the 3 to 4 post on this blog "keep the faith" first I would like to talk about the "Supporter" probably also known as O. For a person that knows very little about the investigation it is incredible to me that you can make any type of determination in this case. Know utilizing my sicology skills, I can read threw the lines, this post sounds like it was written by one of my patients, patient #1098200 this patient is very special to me. He thinks that everybody is out to get him. He even thinks that he himself is out to get him too. And I have the proof, Please Read) “I f---ed up, Chief. You don’t even have to do an investigation. Just demote me to an officer and send me to the range,” Olmedo said, according to Said-Jinete’s report detailing the findings of an investigation. LOL

have you even read the complaint? It's quite interesting.