If you’ve been wondering why North Miami Police Chief Leonard Burgess hasn’t fired Officer Jodlyn Antoine yet, you’re not alone.

Now that the Internal Affairs Report from last year has FINALLY been made public, lots of people have been wondering the exact same thing.

I’ve been told there were at least two Internal Affairs investigations on Antoine even before this most recent one.  It seems that Officer Antoine is no stranger to abusing the police database.

Ironically, after just a little bit of googling, I discovered that Chief Leonard Burgess is no stranger to protecting bad cops.

Yeah, the plot just keeps on getting thicker and thicker.

First, a word about police database abuse.  Apparently, it’s a problem that just keeps getting worse.

As far back as 2002, James Hamilton and Steve Blum of TechTV.com  published the Top 10 List of Police Database Abuses, with links to the individual stories.  These are the worst of the cases, ranging from using the database to influence elections, to selling information to criminal organizations, to planning the murder of an ex-wife.  Yikes!

Most of the abuse occurs by illegally accessing D.A.V.I.D., which IDScan.net explains:

“Everyone’s driver’s license information is stored in a central database known as D.A.V.I.D (the Driver and Vehicle Information Database) that receives about six million hits a month.  It is reported that officers were illegally accessing this database to look up information on celebrities, reporters, and ordinary citizens.

Although the system is password protected, the photos and social security numbers of hundreds of thousands Florida drivers are in the system.”

On January 22, 2013, the Orlando Sentinel reported in Law-enforcer misuse of database soars, “At least 74 law enforcers were suspected of misusing D.A.V.I.D. in 2012, a nearly 400 percent increase from 2011, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”  The article lists several incidents in which the database was used inappropriately and noted that, “Officers who needlessly pull information or photographs from D.A.V.I.D. that would otherwise be private could face criminal charges, sanctions or disciplinary action.”

The chairman of the criminal-justice department of Saint Leo University told the Orlando Sentinel that “the way to stop the misuse is for agencies to act quickly and impose discipline  against offending officers.”

Discipline  was meted out by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office to a deputy who abused the database and “was found to have violated other policies as well and was fired.”

Someone needs to tell Chief Burguss that’s how you do it.

But, wait!  There’s more!

Just last April, a local NBC affiliate in Naples/Fort Myers investigation of database abuse “resulted in one agency firing an employee for wrongdoing and others changing policies.”  Collier County Deputy Peter Deffet was fired for running searches on multiple people, including Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Governor Rick Scott, as well as John Travolta and his wife.  The investigation also led to the Sanibel Police Department’s limiting the number of officers who can access the database.

In a November 17, 2014 column, Florida’s snooping cops abusing database, the Miami Herald’s Fred Grimm noted D.A.V.I.D. is referred to as “Google for cops.”  He listed several infamous cases of database abuse in Florida, the lack of oversight, and the all too lenient discipline often meted out, if any, to the offending officers.

Fortunately, this problem is finally getting media attention, and police departments are finally paying attention.

Oh, except for the North Miami Police Department, which “disciplined” one offender with a nine month paid vacation administrative leave and a suspension that amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Courtesy of North Miami taxpayers.

But this latest “discipline” wasn’t Officer Jodlyn Antoine’s first suspension from duty, nor was it is his first foray into database abuse.

It appears that in 2012, there was a previous Internal Affairs investigation regarding his abuse of the database, as well as stalking accusations.

And, yes, another public records request is imminent.

To be followed up, of course, by more blogs.

But, here’s the best part of today’s story.  And, one that didn’t require a public records request.

D.A.V.I.D. might be “Google for cops,” but Google is a blogger’s best friend.

A simple NON-police database search revealed that North Miami Police Chief Leonard Burgess has a history of turning a blind eye to police misconduct.

When he was a Chief at the Miami-Dade Police Department, a complaint was filed against one of that department’s officers regarding a dispute when he issued a ticket for a minor traffic accident.  The party who received the ticket wasn’t even involved in the violation, as his car was parked when it was hit by the driver of another car.  Officer Jorge Baluga ignored the testimony of numerous eyewitnesses at the scene and gave a moving violation  ticket to the owner of the unoccupied parked  car, Blanton Harris.

Harris successfully contested the ticket and then filed a complaint against Baluja.  The MDPD decided that Harris’ formal complaint was not sustained, citing lack of witnesses.  (Obviously the witnesses who were actually at the scene of the accident didn’t count.)

The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Internal Review Panel decided otherwise.

As Matt Meltzer of MiamiBeach411.com reported on July 28, 2009:

“MDPD’s Internal Review Panel took another subsequent look, and found Baluja to be completely in the wrong. It suggested that Baluja receive further instruction, be counseled on how to write reports, and training in being more courteous to witnesses. It also suggested that the incident be documented in not only Baluja’s file, but also that of Lt. Alexander Casas, Major Charles Nanney and Chief Leonard Burgess. Yes, THAT Chief Burgess. In other words, all the high-ups who ignored this incompetence were, ultimately, cited for being incompetent themselves.”

OMIGOD!  Wouldn’t you just LOVE to know what Matt Meltzer meant by, “Yes, THAT Chief Burgess??”

I know I’m  curious!  You just know I’ll be dropping a dime, so to speak, on Mr. Meltzer for some more dirt!

The following month on August 7, 2009, The Straw Buyer mentioned this incident in Horrific Leadership.  A somber moment in the history of our blog.  He wrote:

“I knew there was some serious problems with the leadership in the MDPD when we saw Lt. Alexander Casas, Major Charles Nanney and Miami Dade County Police Chief Leonard Burgess all ignore the findings of the Internal Affairs report regarding the traffic accident that Detective Baluja was involved in and then conclude that the allegations set forth in the complaint were not sustained. It took the Independent Review Panel to set these guys straight.”

So, you see, folks, North Miami Police Chief Leonard Burgess apparently has a history of protecting bad cops.

And now it appears he’s doing just that by refusing to terminate Officer Jodlyn Antoine, despite the revelations of at least two Internal Affairs investigations, and despite a directive from the City Manager.

Is this just a simple case of a cop protecting another cop?  Or, is there something more nefarious afoot?

If there’s fishy business going on, you just know I’m on it!

Note to Chief Burgess:  Since you asked … that’s  what’s up.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”