09-22-2013, 11:31 PM
SEE CRESPO GRAM FOR FULL STORY
There are any number of reasons for why Commissioner “Ethics” Sarnoff chose to make the staffing problems of the Miami Police Department “his” issue over the last year or so, but given the fact that the Commissioner’s entire political career has been fabricated on one lie after another, starting with the false claims about an illustrious grandfather who wasn’t, and moving on to numerous documented falsehoods and just outright lies, anytime that he opens his mouth on an issue folks really need to pay close attention, because what he says isn’t always what he means, or for that matter the claims that he makes aren’t necessarily based on the reality of the situation that he’s talking about.
Miami’s Chief of Police Manny Orosa is also no stranger when it comes to saying things that aren’t true and to providing testimony someone else wants him to say as evidenced by my recent stories about his testimony under oath in the Frank Carollo ethics case.
So when you have Commissioner “Ethics” touting a plan to get an extra $9-10 million dollars from the taxpayers to provide funding to hire as many as 100 new policemen - a feat that everyone with any knowledge agrees cannot realistically happen in the next few years - and a Greek Chorus of folks from Coconut Grove shows up at City Hall who’ve never before demonstrated that they even knew the directions of how to get there - then people really need to pay attention, because this is Miami, *****es! and the clueless have often been led down the Primrose Path by people with hidden agendas.
But before we get to all of those machinations, lets deal with some facts that I think most reasonable people with some knowledge of the issues will agree with.
The Miami Police Department is in serious trouble! They have a lot of troubles but the one that’s gotten the most attention recently is that they only have not managed to recruit enough new officers during recent years to deal with normal attrition, but over the next 24-36 months as many as 300 officers and senior staff will be leaving as part of retirement and the DROP which will result in a real manpower shortage for the department.
In addition, the department suffers, like many major departments do from a gradual loss of new officers, who once they gain some experience look to go to calmer, safer police departments, as well as those who are currently looking for employment with other departments rather than continue to put up with the politics, low pay, lack of benefits and bad morale that now permeates the MPD.
Some would argue that money is the single, if not only reason that the department has these problem, but money is only part of a larger series of problems that have beset the department under the administration of Tomas Regalado. As the Mayor, Regalado is allowed to choose who he wants to be the Chief of Police, and he has chosen badly. Therefore, he bears the ultimate blame for the problems that now focus everyone’s attention on the department.
I was actually surprised while reviewing the video of the last Commission meeting to discover that one of the speakers, a former Executive Recruiter named Sam Debrow, was so readily able to discern, from the comments of the people at City Hall that day, including approximately 200 police officers, what some of these problems were.
Here is Mr. Debrow providing his professional opinion on the low and the on-going implications for the department.
As just one of a number of examples of how the politicization of the department has occurred, consider how local art dealer Gary Nadar famously explained to the Miami Herald last January, when questioned over why he thought it was okay for the Miami Police Department to provide him with 24/7 ON DUTY police protection for free, said:
“It was a gentlemen’s agreement,” said Nader.
“This exhibit would not be here without the help
of the mayor and the police chief. They under-
stand the importance of art for a city.”
You’ll notice that Gary Nadar didn’t mention the City Manager being part of this gentlemen’s agreement. That’s because Johnny “The Doormat” Martinez was all too happy to sit back and let the management of the city become a process where “gentlemen’s agreements” superseded his authority. (You can read PART I and PART II of that story.)
This deal represents a violation of the City Charter. Everyone in city government knows that the City Manager - especially during the tenure of Johnny Martinez - was that the City Manager was little more than a figurehead that allowed the city departments to be influenced and ordered around directly by the Mayor and Commissioners.
The politicization of the Miami Police Department by the actions of the Mayor and the City Commissioners, more than a lack of funds, is what is at the core of the problems that now beset that department.
The politicization of a government agency, especially a police department, results in its resources being syphoned off to accommodate the wants and needs of politicians regardless of the cost or damage to the city at large, which eventually leads to a failure to adequately deal with the issues of crime in the community.
If you were reading the stories on this website back in early 2011, then you’ll recall that I wrote then about the fight between former Chief Exposition and the Mayor over the police department having to provide $84,000 worth of off-duty police security for the 3 Kings Parade, because the Mayor wanted to suck up to his pals at Univision Radio and promised them that they wouldn’t have to pay for police security for their parade.
Nor was he shy in getting the police department to eat the $10,000 plus in police costs provided for Gloria Estefan’s Women In White protest rally that also took place that year.
These actions also represented violations of the City Charter, abuse of power and the failure to secure City Commission approval for un-budgeted expenditures. (My original story about this, with the documents, including emails can be found HERE.)
Professional management of a city like Miami calls for the equitable allocation of resources and accountability, but this has always been anathema within the political culture of Miami where favoritism, cronyism and back-room dealing-making are the favored way in which government services and resources are allocated and expended.
To further understand the kinds of problems created because of gross incompetence and political interference, the department is currently facing a crisis because of a lack of Sergeants and Lieutenants who constitute the department’s middle-management. There hasn’t been an exam for either of these ranks in years. The Sergeant’s list used for promotions supposedly expires at the end of the month.
The Lieutenant’s list is so outdated that the word came out several days ago that the Chief will soon be appointing 12 Lieutenants from a “Temporary List” of Sergeants who have already announced their intention to resign through the DROP, so as to minimize the costs.
These appointments, like all of the appointments made during Regalado’s term as Mayor, are not being made on merit or as a result of an open and fair process, but on political expediency with the consequence that at least some of these appointments will be based solely on favoritism.
It’s against this background that the current struggle over the problem of hiring more police is being playing out.
To deal with some of the other issues, let’s explore them one at a time.
THE DEPARTMENT’S FAILURE TO RECRUIT AND TRAIN NEW OFFICERS IN ITS ACADEMY
At the last Commission meeting Commissioner Frank Carollo towards the end of the meeting stated, “Every single year that I’ve been here we have budgeted for x number of officers and we never get them.”
That’s true, but why hasn’t it happened?
Why hasn’t the Miami Police Department been able to reach their recruitment goals, especially since back in October of 2009, the City of Miami Police Department opened a $35,400,000 Police College and Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial High School Academy that provided the location for the Police Department’s Training Academy.
In the almost 4 years that have passed since the building was dedicated and the Academy went into operation, I was able to obtain records that showed that total of 254 individuals entered the program, yet only 23 became Miami Police officers.
There are any number of reasons for why Commissioner “Ethics” Sarnoff chose to make the staffing problems of the Miami Police Department “his” issue over the last year or so, but given the fact that the Commissioner’s entire political career has been fabricated on one lie after another, starting with the false claims about an illustrious grandfather who wasn’t, and moving on to numerous documented falsehoods and just outright lies, anytime that he opens his mouth on an issue folks really need to pay close attention, because what he says isn’t always what he means, or for that matter the claims that he makes aren’t necessarily based on the reality of the situation that he’s talking about.
Miami’s Chief of Police Manny Orosa is also no stranger when it comes to saying things that aren’t true and to providing testimony someone else wants him to say as evidenced by my recent stories about his testimony under oath in the Frank Carollo ethics case.
So when you have Commissioner “Ethics” touting a plan to get an extra $9-10 million dollars from the taxpayers to provide funding to hire as many as 100 new policemen - a feat that everyone with any knowledge agrees cannot realistically happen in the next few years - and a Greek Chorus of folks from Coconut Grove shows up at City Hall who’ve never before demonstrated that they even knew the directions of how to get there - then people really need to pay attention, because this is Miami, *****es! and the clueless have often been led down the Primrose Path by people with hidden agendas.
But before we get to all of those machinations, lets deal with some facts that I think most reasonable people with some knowledge of the issues will agree with.
The Miami Police Department is in serious trouble! They have a lot of troubles but the one that’s gotten the most attention recently is that they only have not managed to recruit enough new officers during recent years to deal with normal attrition, but over the next 24-36 months as many as 300 officers and senior staff will be leaving as part of retirement and the DROP which will result in a real manpower shortage for the department.
In addition, the department suffers, like many major departments do from a gradual loss of new officers, who once they gain some experience look to go to calmer, safer police departments, as well as those who are currently looking for employment with other departments rather than continue to put up with the politics, low pay, lack of benefits and bad morale that now permeates the MPD.
Some would argue that money is the single, if not only reason that the department has these problem, but money is only part of a larger series of problems that have beset the department under the administration of Tomas Regalado. As the Mayor, Regalado is allowed to choose who he wants to be the Chief of Police, and he has chosen badly. Therefore, he bears the ultimate blame for the problems that now focus everyone’s attention on the department.
I was actually surprised while reviewing the video of the last Commission meeting to discover that one of the speakers, a former Executive Recruiter named Sam Debrow, was so readily able to discern, from the comments of the people at City Hall that day, including approximately 200 police officers, what some of these problems were.
Here is Mr. Debrow providing his professional opinion on the low and the on-going implications for the department.
As just one of a number of examples of how the politicization of the department has occurred, consider how local art dealer Gary Nadar famously explained to the Miami Herald last January, when questioned over why he thought it was okay for the Miami Police Department to provide him with 24/7 ON DUTY police protection for free, said:
“It was a gentlemen’s agreement,” said Nader.
“This exhibit would not be here without the help
of the mayor and the police chief. They under-
stand the importance of art for a city.”
You’ll notice that Gary Nadar didn’t mention the City Manager being part of this gentlemen’s agreement. That’s because Johnny “The Doormat” Martinez was all too happy to sit back and let the management of the city become a process where “gentlemen’s agreements” superseded his authority. (You can read PART I and PART II of that story.)
This deal represents a violation of the City Charter. Everyone in city government knows that the City Manager - especially during the tenure of Johnny Martinez - was that the City Manager was little more than a figurehead that allowed the city departments to be influenced and ordered around directly by the Mayor and Commissioners.
The politicization of the Miami Police Department by the actions of the Mayor and the City Commissioners, more than a lack of funds, is what is at the core of the problems that now beset that department.
The politicization of a government agency, especially a police department, results in its resources being syphoned off to accommodate the wants and needs of politicians regardless of the cost or damage to the city at large, which eventually leads to a failure to adequately deal with the issues of crime in the community.
If you were reading the stories on this website back in early 2011, then you’ll recall that I wrote then about the fight between former Chief Exposition and the Mayor over the police department having to provide $84,000 worth of off-duty police security for the 3 Kings Parade, because the Mayor wanted to suck up to his pals at Univision Radio and promised them that they wouldn’t have to pay for police security for their parade.
Nor was he shy in getting the police department to eat the $10,000 plus in police costs provided for Gloria Estefan’s Women In White protest rally that also took place that year.
These actions also represented violations of the City Charter, abuse of power and the failure to secure City Commission approval for un-budgeted expenditures. (My original story about this, with the documents, including emails can be found HERE.)
Professional management of a city like Miami calls for the equitable allocation of resources and accountability, but this has always been anathema within the political culture of Miami where favoritism, cronyism and back-room dealing-making are the favored way in which government services and resources are allocated and expended.
To further understand the kinds of problems created because of gross incompetence and political interference, the department is currently facing a crisis because of a lack of Sergeants and Lieutenants who constitute the department’s middle-management. There hasn’t been an exam for either of these ranks in years. The Sergeant’s list used for promotions supposedly expires at the end of the month.
The Lieutenant’s list is so outdated that the word came out several days ago that the Chief will soon be appointing 12 Lieutenants from a “Temporary List” of Sergeants who have already announced their intention to resign through the DROP, so as to minimize the costs.
These appointments, like all of the appointments made during Regalado’s term as Mayor, are not being made on merit or as a result of an open and fair process, but on political expediency with the consequence that at least some of these appointments will be based solely on favoritism.
It’s against this background that the current struggle over the problem of hiring more police is being playing out.
To deal with some of the other issues, let’s explore them one at a time.
THE DEPARTMENT’S FAILURE TO RECRUIT AND TRAIN NEW OFFICERS IN ITS ACADEMY
At the last Commission meeting Commissioner Frank Carollo towards the end of the meeting stated, “Every single year that I’ve been here we have budgeted for x number of officers and we never get them.”
That’s true, but why hasn’t it happened?
Why hasn’t the Miami Police Department been able to reach their recruitment goals, especially since back in October of 2009, the City of Miami Police Department opened a $35,400,000 Police College and Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial High School Academy that provided the location for the Police Department’s Training Academy.
In the almost 4 years that have passed since the building was dedicated and the Academy went into operation, I was able to obtain records that showed that total of 254 individuals entered the program, yet only 23 became Miami Police officers.