HomeMy WebLinkAboutExhibitIs I M113 [0]:Z:10I DYi1►ji
TO: MANAGER ARTHUR NORIEGA
MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ
FROM: CHIEF ART ACEVEDO
SUBJECT: RECENT ACTIVITIES BY CITY OFFICIALS
DATE: SEPTEMBER 24, 2021
This memorandum is to confirm my recent reports to you of misconduct of certain City
Commissioners and to disclose additional misconduct to you in your leadership capacities with
the City of Miami (City).
As you know, on April 5, 2021, I was sworn in as Chief of Police of the Miami Police
Department (MPD). I came to Miami from the City of Houston, TX, Police Department after
being recruited by you as the Mayor and City Manager. Both of you indicated there was a
need to reform the MPD and to change the culture of the agency.
Early on in my tenure I learned the task of reforming the department would be arduous and
the resistance to change from some in the department, including the FOP (MPD police union),
and others, was intense. Despite this challenge, I have quickly come to love the spirit of most
of the hard-working men and women of MPD, both sworn and support personnel.
Unfortunately, certain City commissioners have interfered with the reform efforts and have
interfered with a confidential internal investigation.
Interference with MPD Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigation.
On or about .June 3, 2021, 1 ordered the IAD to initiate an internal investigation after the
department identified a breach of operational security involving the Sergeant -At -Arms Detail
(SAAD), which is the detail tasked with providing executive protection to the Mayor and City
Commissioners. Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and other commissioners have
publicly identified Luis Camacho as the SAAD member involved in the investigation. I
understand that Camacho is very close to Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla and is well -liked
by Commissioners Joe Carollo and Manolo Reyes.
Subsequently, on or about June 24, 2021, a regular City Commission meeting was held during
which I was called before the conunission to be questioned in relation to a "pocket item"
submitted by one of the commissioners related to the SAAD. I believe Commissioner Diaz
de la Portilla placed the pocket item on the agenda, and when the item came up, he asked for
"the honor" of assuming the role of commission chair.
Incredibly, Commissioners Diaz de la Portilla, Reyes, and Carollo, who are civilians and not
law enforcement officers, each proceeded to openly discuss the IAD investigation, despite its
confidential manner and even though as commissioners they have no authority under the City
charter or under the law to direct the MPD or interfere with its actions.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla led off the discussion by asking about the SAOD staffing.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla then started making comments about the confidential
investigation. De La Portilla stated, in essence:
"without going into all of the details of what has really happened here
which to me is disgusting to be honest with you, I think it is lack of due
process, I think it is arbitrary in nature, and I am not happy with it. And I was
clear with you when I spoke with you but I am very clear publicly because
I think it is important to be clear and honest, I am very direct. I think it was
arbitrary, I think you pulled the trigger too quickly.. . I think before you tarnish
somebody's reputation, you need to do due diligence and go through an
investigation because once you tag someone as something, even if they are
exonerated at the end, they are tarnished. And to me that is not the right way
to do things, my opinion, I am one commissioner. I am one commissioner,
there's 5 here, there's the mayor, it is what it is."
Commissioner Reyes stated, in essence: "The only thing I have to add is `omen.' The only
thing I have to add is I feel the same way and keep on sir" (referring to Commissioner Diaz
de la Portilla).
Commissioner Carollo subsequently stated, in essence:
"I would like to keep things in house, but I will say this to you publicly
chief, and please understand where I am coming from. While I have been
walking very softly, I carry a hell of a big stick, and it don't matter what
time of the year it is, whether it is election time, or not election time. And let
that other character [unknown to whom he was referring] know too.
But if someone has breached a vow in their law enforcement position and you
can prove it to me and show it to me, it is one thing, but if you are going to go
on speculation and on the way something might look, that at the end might
not be anywhere near what you thought it might look like, or what you were
told it looked like, that's a different story. And I don't want to see because
of some of the end games of the Miami Police Department, any one
officer be dealt with unjustly. And I am telling you now chief, unless
you show me something different, I am beginning to think this is what
happened. When we meet personally, I can give you several other roads
that are even more believable than maybe something that the one you
are looking at. I am not happy that this come by, because Officer Camacho
has been a professional, just like Commissioner Reyes said, he never talked to
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anyone or got involved in anything, he did his job period. You have to show
me, I have been around the block in this area for a long time and I think you
know that. I don't want to be told, no no, it looks this way or that I want real
evidence. If you don't have that I am going to expect that he comes back to
the position he has."
After Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla spontaneously stated "absolutely," Carollo continued,
"You're the chief, you can do whatever you want, but I want you to know that from up
here, we can do a heck of a lot more. I will leave it at that."
Commissioner Reyes then stated, "I support what Commissioner Carollo says about Sergeant
Camacho, and I am also not happy about it."
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla then stated:
"I am going to ditto what Commissioners Carollo and Reyes, said, Luis
Camacho is a man, a man's man, he is discreet, he has been on this force
for 23 years, with all due respect chief, you Just got here, his history in
this town, our town, is very well known, and before you crucify
somebody or tarnish somebody's reputation, the proof better be there.
And it has to be ironclad, and it can't be somebody made a phone call by
coincidence. It can't be circumstantial, because you are talking about
somebody's livelihood, you're tallying about somebody's reputation, and the
three of us before we got here he has always been discrete ...."
Commissioner Reyes added the Commissioners were not telling me what to do because it is
prohibited by the City charter, but Commissioner Reyes then addressed the City Manager and
directed to look into the matter and "do the right thing."
Subsequently, Commissioner Carollo asked how long the investigation would take, and
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla then stated: "how long did it take you to decide to relieve
him of duty. How long did that investigation last? How many days did it take for you
to decide to tag him as a bad guy"? De La Portilla ultimately stated that he was "99.9
percent convinced" that Camacho had done nothing wrong and that he would stake a lot on
that.
These public remarks confirm the three Commissioner's improper efforts to influence the
IAD investigation and reverse MPD personnel decisions. They are also consistent with what
those three commissioners have said to me in private. Each of them has questioned me about
the ongoing investigation in their offices, have falsely accused me in private of Carrying out a
vendetta against Camacho, and have demanded that I bring Camacho back to work and
reappoint him to the SAAD. In one such private meeting, Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla
told me in his office that I should consider running in the upcoming Miami -Dade Sheriff race.
I told him I am not interested in running for office and he replied that "you are the most
experienced and qualified candidate and would easily `yin. I run campaigns and will get you
in." IIe then added "that's assuming you do the right thing on Camacho and get him
back."
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Shortly after the conclusion of the June 24'" commission meeting, I expressed my concerns
over the actions described above to my staff, and to both of you, the City Manager and Mayor,
as my superiors. I felt compelled to do so due to the fact that in a career spanning over 35
years, including in the three of the most populous states in the Union and leading three of the
largest law enforcement agencies in the United States, I have never personally experienced
such interference in a confidential law enforcement investigation.
Today, in a related development, September 24, 2021, at approximately 10:57 a.m., I received
notification that a felony warrant had been signed by a judge in Monroe County, Florida for
the arrest of Frank Pichel for impersonating a law enforcement officer. I understand that
Pichel works or has worked as a Private Investigator gathering "dirt" for Commissioner
Carollo and other elected officials. In light of Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla's pattern of
continued attacks on MPD and me, the complexity of the web we have begun to untangle, the
multiple jurisdictions involved, and the safety issues at stake, I called and informed you both
on a three-way cell phone call on September 24, 2021, at approximately 11:29 a.m., and advised
you of the pending arrest of Mr. Pichel. I did so to ensure both of you are situationally aware
for your own safety, and to also advise you of my intent to request assistance from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Department of Justice. I also reminded you of
the fact I had spoken to high level DOJ Officials in Washington, D.C., and have requested
assistance in reviewing MPD internal affairs processes, and several non -fatal use of force
incidents. Considering what has occurred to date, our MPD and the City has no choice.
Unfortunately, the Commissioners' interference in the confidential IAD investigation is not
their only misconduct.
Interference with Reform Efforts and MPD Staffing.
On or about August 2, 2021, former Houston Police Department (HPD) Assistant Chief
Heather R. Morris was sworn in as the first female Deputy Chief (DC) of the Miami Police
Department. DC Morris previously worked with me for 4 112 years at HPD as the Robbery
Division Commander, Internal Affairs Division Commander, and as Assistant Chief
overseeing Criminal Investigations Command (Homicide Division, Special Investigations
Unit, Robbery Division, Major Assaults/Family Violence Division, Victim Services Unit, and
the Burglary and Theft Division), At HPD she was highly regarded and successfully
performed her duties. It is important to note she has over 22 years of sustained excellence in
a department well over five times the size of the MPD and served a community nearly Five
times larger than the City of Miami. In fact, that department's budget is on par with the entire
budget of the City of Miami and the workforce she helped lead is larger than the City of Miami
workforce.
DC Morris and her family, like me and my family, came to Miami with the best of intentions
and in the hope of helping to reform and improve the culture of MPD, which is the mission
given to me by you as my superiors at the City of Miami and by certain Commissioners
including Commissioners Diaz de la Portilla and Carollo, who had previously encouraged me
to bring police executives from outside of the MPD to assist me in my reform efforts.
Unfortunately, these Commissioners have changed their tune and have eliminated her position
in the 2021 /22 FY budget. It is clear to me that they are doing so as part of their efforts to
meddle in the affairs of the MPD and to improperly influence the ongoing IAD investigation.
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Specifically, on or about September 13, 2021, the City Commission held a budget reading.
During the beginning of the meeting, the Commissioners discussed eliminating a position
(Director of Constitutional Policing) that I told you I needed to help me reform MPD before
accepting the Chief position. Commissioners Carollo, Reyes and Diaz de la Portilla voted to
remove the funding for that position from the budget and instead provide it to the City
Attorney for additional staffing, as part of the Commissioners' continued retaliation and effort
to harass and intimidate me and my team, and to hamper my efforts at reform.
Throughout the discussion of the 1'vIPD budget during the September 13, 2021, budget
meeting, Commissioners Carollo, Diaz de la Portilla, and Reyes targeted me and MPD, and
manipulated the budget process to further their vendetta against me and other members of
the department for refusing to succumb to their unlawful interference and obstruction.
The Commissioners made the following statements from the dais:
Carollo stated, in essence, "that position (Deputy Director of Constitutional Policing) or and
whatever other names that he ( referring to me) wants use for, so we aren't being played with
later on, is eliminated."
Carollo then addressed Jorge Blanco, Civilian Commander of the MPD Budget Office, and
stated, "Mr. Bean Counter, if there are games played, with that position later on where you
know, you try to move the cups, and hide the bean, I will call immediately for a budget
amendment hearing and the new budget amendment, your position (referring to Blanco) we
are going to dust also. And if 1 have to up the ladder, I will keep doing that. So, I don't want
any games Eke I saw here a few minutes ago, because I am reading to peoples' minds. You
know in my prior life; you know I was a mind reader"
Carollo made the following misleading statements about positions he knew full well were
requested by him and other commissioners:
"Mr. Manager, I am not used to having this ever, and Mr.
Manager, can you come up, I'd appreciate it. Mr. Manager, I
am sitting back here, 1 can't believe what is going on here.
You're the City Manager, you set the budget that you are
proposing to us, and now, they're telling me that the request
that they have made to you that you did not approve, there
coming directly to us to ask for that request. This is what this
gentleman here (Blanco) is telling me. I have never seen
something like that done before in all the years that I have been
sitting in budget hearings on this commissioner or any other
commission. If a department director had pulled this on me
when I was City Manager before, he wouldn't be around. He
wouldn't be around. So, what the heck is going on here, are
you in charge? Are they in charge? Who is in charge? You told
them [MPD/mej this is the budget you are going to propose.
I had no problems with that, if I would tell you. But now they
are telling me, that they are proposing this to us up here to see
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if we would overrule you. And you know, there has to be a
chain of command, this is not the way things are done."
He later continued, "this the part that is starting to scare me, I
am seeing actions that I have never seen before. And, it is going
to be one voice, and you are the manager. You are the one that
I am listening to."
I believe these misleading public statements by Commissioner Carollo were made to create
the false appearance that the MPD and I were somehow insubordinate to the City Manager.
Furthermore, since my arrival at MPD in April, I have uncovered a pattern of unlawful use of
force by officers, and in some instances the chain of command has covered up the unlawful
use of force by some officers. I have discussed my concern regarding the failure of some
MPD supervisors and managers to hold officers accountable for the unlawful use of force. I
have begun the process of addressing this issue with the assistance of Deputy Chief Morris,
who has extensive experience as the former Commander of Internal Affairs at HPD, and I
looked forward to obtaining additional help with the position slated for Policy and
Constitutional Poling, to help reform the department. However, during this September 13`h
Commissioner meeting, Commissioners Carollo, Reyes, and Diaz de la Portilla manipulated
the budget process to hamper my reform by eliminating the funding for the two
aforementioned positions, which are critical to any serious reform efforts.
It is important to note that the Commissioners chose not to eliminate the newly created
position of Assistant Chief (currently occupied by Assistant Chief Carroll). Instead,
Commissioners Carollo, Diaz de la Portilla, and Reyes led the charge to eliminate the long-
standing position of Deputy Chief as part of their efforts to interfere with the MPD's affairs
including the IAD investigation, hamper my given mission to reform the MPD, and retaliate
for refusing to succumb to their collective efforts to influence the outcome of the ongoing
IAD investigation and operations.
These Commissioners have gone so far as to threaten to fire the City Manager if he does not
do their bidding and have directed the City Manager to order me not to take any disciplinary
action against any employee until after a Special City Commission meeting, which they have
called for September 27, 2021. These actions are clearly meant to improperly direct and
control the MPD, including the attempts to influence an ongoing and confidential
investigation, and are disturbing and unprecedented in my career.
After the September 13`' Commission meeting, I again discussed the actions of these
Commissioners with my executive team, and with you as my superiors at the City of Miami. I
made it clear that the actions of these three Commissioners are part of a pattern of interference
and intimidation, designed to obstruct an open and confidential investigation and an effort to
improperly manage and direct the activities of the MPD for the Commissioners' personal and
political purposes. I have discussed these sustained efforts and the Commissioners' violations
of the City Charter and governing law with you as my superiors.
On September 23, 2021, during the regular City Commissioner hearing, the City Manager met
briefly with me and told me in essence, "I understand you are transferring someone named
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Blanco into internal affairs. Carollo just jumped on me and went off stating he knows you are
transferring Blanco and he is livid because Blanco is close to SA -AD Senior Sergeant Lamprou,
and he is threatening to blow up your budget further." This is additional evidence of
Commissioner Carollo improperly interfering with the activities and staffing of the MPD.
It is important to note that at the conclusion of the regular Commission meeting on September
23, 2021, Carollo went into his Conunission Office, and neither he nor Diaz de la Portilla took
the dais during the second budget meeting. Moreover, shortly after the end of the regular
meeting and start of the Budget hearing, MPD FOP Union President Tommy Reyes entered
Carollo's office, where I believe they remained throughout the budget hearing.
Interference With and Improper Use of MPD Resources,
Furthermore, Commissioner Carollo is targeting me, in part, for my refusal to allow him to
use the MPD as his personal enforcer against anyone he perceives as offensive. My refusal to
allow Commissioner Carollo to dictate the actions of members of the MPD has led him to
engage in a pattern of retaliation and threats.
Specifically, on June 25, 2021, I received a call from Commissioner Carollo telling me he was
at the monthly Cane Ocho event. He insisted there were "agitators" in the crowd and
demanded I dispatch Special Investigations Section Detectives. This is an example of Carollo's
pattern of using and directing MPD. I contacted Major Thomas Carroll and told him that
Carollo was insisting "these son of a bitches are here at the event and they are agitating and
we need to arrest them and get them out of here." Major Carroll told me he would take care
of it, and I later learned that MPD personnel did not locate any "agitators" after an extended
period of observation.
Carollo also has complained on numerous occasions to me and the City Manager about alleged
corruption in the City Code Enforcement Department. Because of Carollo's harassment of
the City Manager on this issue, and at the direction of the City Manager, MPD investigated
the matter. The MPD investigation did not uncover any evidence of corruption. Nevertheless,
Carollo continues to insist that City Code Enforcement is corrupt and continues to demand
that MPD take enforcement action. Carollo has not provided any evidence of his insistent
claims of corruption, and as previously stated, the MPD investigation did not uncover any
evidence to support Carollo's claims. Carollo continues to attempt to influence the MPD and
City Code Enforcement deployment decisions. In fact, Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla
provided the MPD with a target list of establishments which 117e f claim are engaged in criminal
activity and have pointed the finger at establishments in each other's districts, causing the
MPD to investigate business establishments based on nothing more than the whims of
Commissioners Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla.
The MPD SIS/Vice Division has wasted untold hours investigating business establishments
because of the improper political influence of, and intimidation by, these two commissioners.
Unfortunately, Commissioner Reyes frequently joins Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla in their
pattern of official misconduct. After five months of observing these two commissioners, and
the negative impact they are having on MPD and our business community, coupled with their
unlawful obstruction of the IAD investigation involving Camacho, I feel compelled to
memorialize and report their unlawful and retaliatory conduct.
Another example of Camtnissioner Carollo's malfeasance occurred on July 31, 2021, a "Patria
y Vida" event held at Bayfront Turk. During this event I worked all day. Commissioner
Carollo became upset because, according to him, there were "agitators" in the crowd. Carollo
told me to "arrest those communists and get them the hell out of here." I immediately directed
investigators to keep an eye on the area that Carollo was complaining about. I now understand
that Carollo was incensed that MPD did not immediately make arrests as he directed. In fact,
Commissioner Carollo has publicly accused me of being too busy taking selfies with the crowd
and spending time in crowds in retaliation for my refusal to arrest and remove his enemies and
those who were exercising their First Amendment rights. Carollo has made numerous
appearances on Spanish radio and has engaged in a sustained attack on me in his attempt to
harm my professional reputation with the community and in his continued effort to intimidate,
harass, and retaliate against me for not carrying out his unlawful requests.
These events are deeply troubling and sad. I have no choice but to memorialize and report
the above series of improper acts, because the men and women of the MPD, and the
wonderful community we serve, deserve leadership that is committed to the rule of law. I want
to note that I absolutely love the men and women of MPD.
I close by saying that I have been told on numerous occasions that, if I just give these
commissioners what they want on the IAD investigation, they may very well leave me alone
for now. However, my sworn duty is to uphold the rule of law and follow the evidence
wherever it may lead, and to work for the wellbeing of the men and women of the MPD, the
lawful independence of MPD, and the people of the City of Miami. If I or MPD give in to
the improper actions described herein, as a Cuban immigrant, I and my family might as well
have remained in communist Cuba, because Miami and MPD would be no better than the
repressive regime and the police state we left behind. It is for these reasons, and more, that I
will be providing this information to the proper authorities.
With Great Respect and Heavy Heart,
Art �Ac /ed
Chief of Police
Miami Police Department