At his very first roll call after he was hired on December 4, 2014, former North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis told his troops, “No one talks to the blogger.”

How do I know this?

Because as soon as roll call was over, my phone started ringing off the hook.

Chief Dennis soon learned that it’s better to make nice with the media than to try to stop the flow of information by sources who trust the media more than they trust the leadership of an organization.

In all fairness, Chief Dennis reached out to me almost as soon as he was hired.  We met and spoke on the phone on quite a few occasions, as he filled me in on his plans for the police department and his goals for running a professional law enforcement agency.

Chief Dennis was earnest, honest and forthcoming.  He genuinely cared about both the officers of the NMBPD as well as the residents of North Miami Beach, a fact that was obvious to anyone who met him.  His media savvy was not one of his best qualities, but he was hired to protect and serve the community, not to make nice for the cameras.

During the disastrous mug shot media crisis, Chief Dennis was literally thrown to the wolves by whomever advised him to speak to the media.  At the time, the City of North Miami Beach had no professional Public Information Officer, and it showed.  It was painful to watch that story get so out of control when it could have been handled swiftly and with finesse if the city hadn’t completely bungled dealing with the press.  Nevertheless, none of it was the Chief’s fault – neither the incident, nor the media coverage.  He was simply out of his league.

To his credit, however, Chief Dennis took full responsibility since the crisis happened under his watch.  He also took all the heat.  In my opinion, he deserved a medal for that.

Unfortuantely Chief Dennis’ leadership skills weren’t as finely honed as they should have been.  After all, he had never been a department head before coming to North Miami Beach.  As much as he tried to lead, the close knit family of the North Miami Beach Police Department never warmed up to him, especially once they suspected, rightly or wrongly, that Chief Dennis had more loyalty to the city’s administration than to the men and women of the police department.

Eventually, the members of the NMBPD banded together to vote “no confidence” in the Chief, which soon led to his retirement from the department.  Chief Dennis didn’t seem to take his “defeat” personally, and he left his post with dignity, humility, and in good spirits.

I suspect that in time, and with more experience as a leader, Chief Dennis might have been able to earn the respect of his troops, but he had the good graces not to overstay his welcome.  A dignified and humble individual never sticks around where he’s not wanted.

North Miami Police Department’s Chief Leonard Burgess, on the other hand, is the complete antithesis of Chief Dennis in every way imaginable.

Unlike J. Scott Dennis, there is absolutely nothing dignified or humble about Chief Lenny, and the only time he’s in good spirits is when his Illuminati bootlickers have him blindly convinced that he’s The Man and that he’s got this shit covered.

Even as they laugh about him behind his back.

Also unlike Chief Dennis, Lenny still hasn’t learned that he can’t stop anyone from “talking to the blogger,” or any other media for that matter.  Despite his futile attempts to “flush out the mole” in his department, the media still has more eyes and ears on the inside than Lenny realizes.  In fact, if he tried to get rid of every single person who “leaks information” to me, to radio hosts and to local news reporters, he’d have to fire more than half his department.

I am aware that a majority the members of the North Miami Police Department are extremely unhappy with the leadership at the top and that morale is extremely low.  I am also aware that very few of those members are reluctant to speak out for fear of retaliation.  They have witnessed first hand the punitive treatment veteran officers have received for not kowtowing to the whims of a repressive and very vindictive administration.  They’d rather not make waves in an environment where, unless they happen to be one of the Illuminati-sanctioned chosen few, they’ve learned that it’s best to clock in, keep your head down, clock out, and say as little as possible.

When I mentioned the North Miami Beach Police Department’s vote of no confidence in their Chief to several NMPD cops, and asked why no one initiated the same strategy in North Miami, I received a not-so-surprising answer.

Despite all the problems they’ve had had in the last several years, the members of the North Miami Beach Police Department have a true sense of kinship with each other.  Of course, as with any large organization, there will always be disagreements and personality clashes.  Regardless of any personal differences, the NMBPD cops look out for each other and stand together, especially in times of crisis.

Because of political intrigue and the fractured, dysfunctional leadership in the North Miami Police Department, officers work under a trust-no-one code of self-protection.  By it’s very tyrannical nature, the “Bur-iga” Regime encourages divided loyalty among the troops so that they distrust each other as much as they do the administration.

That strategy has worked out very well for Chief Lenny and his most effective apple polishers, Assistant Chief Larry Juriga and “Police Administrator” Jorge Manresa.  Ironically, Chief Lenny still hasn’t figured out that he is nothing but their useful idiot who’s being manipulated and propped up by those patiently waiting in the wings for his demise.

While Chief Lenny’s myriad of missteps have been fully documented and well publicized, he actually believes that by hiring  Brian Andrews as his personal public relations clean-up crew, it’s all good.

The former television newsman is currently a “Crisis Communications Consultant.”

Which is a fancy term for “Spin Doctor.”

According to his resume, Mr. Andrews’ client list includes the cities of Surfside, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach, the South Miami Police Department, and now the City of North Miami.

While I’m not exactly sure why Surfside and Sunny Isles Beach would need a media crisis specialist, the scandals at the Bal Harbour Police Department have been very well publicized of late.  The Miami Herald’s License to Launder series exposed a corruption scheme which is now being investigated by federal agencies, including the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago and the Internal Revenue Service.  If any city is in need of a media crisis specialist, it’s Bal Harbour.

The City of North Miami Beach hired Brian Andrews shortly after the mug shot scandal hit the news last January.  Although he came on board a bit too late – the disaster went positively viral – the city decided to keep Andrews on retainer to handle future crises at a cost of $1,250.00 per month.*

Interestingly, I was advised that the North Miami Police Department followed suit and hired Brian Andrews early last year after one of Chief Lenny’s many screw ups.  Until I receive the public records, I won’t know which particular “media crisis” prompted Chief Lenny to reach out to Andrews.  I do know, however, that on November 6, 2015, the City of North Miami entered into a Professional Services Agreement with Brian Andrews USA, LLC, d/b/a The News Directors, for an initial twelve month period beginning October 1, 2015.

According to Exhibit A of the agreement, the Scope of Services to be provided by Brian Andrews USA, LLC are:

The News Directors will serve as ON CALL advisers to the City Manager and his designates in the areas of crisis media relations and unscheduled events garnering media attention. Advisement will be made in-person or by phone, whichever is convenient to both parties and necessary to effectively communicate.

The News Directors shall assist the City Manager and his designates with response strategy to large-scale media situations that are considered “critical incidents” or sensitive in nature that could potentially impact the city’s reputation. Routine media matters and inquiries will be handled by North Miami employees assigned Public Information Officer duties.

For his expertise in “advising” the city how to handle “critical incidents,” Mr. Andrews is charging the City of North Miami the sum of $2,000.00 per month.

Mr. Andrews also will receive a sum of $150.00 per hour for “any assignments outside the specific scope of crisis media advisement.”  Whatever that means.

Here’s the thing.

While the cities of Bal Harbour and North Miami Beach indeed needed the services of a Crisis Communications Consultant, the only media crises the North Miami Police Department has suffered in the last year and a half are those created by the Police Chief himself!

Chief Lenny’s inexplicable decision to retain a serial predator cop, his fudging of crime stats, his quashing news of violent crimes from the public, his department’s mishandling of police calls, his refusal to to take responsibility, his blatant discrimination and disrespect of his Haitian-American Assistant Chief, and his latest gun-in-the-lobby scandal, are all problems of his own making.

Yet somehow, Chief Lenny thinks absolutely nothing of spending at least TWENTY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS OF TAXPAYER MONEY to a media crisis specialist to clean up his mess.

As a side note, while the City of North Miami Beach is paying Brian Andrews the sum of $15,000.00 for his consulting services, the City of North Miami agreed to pay him $9,000.00 more.

Then again, it’s taxpayer money, so who cares?

Prior to Lenny’s anointment appointment as Emperor Chief of Police, the NMPD had a professionally trained, nationally recognized and highly respected Public Information Officer on staff at no additional cost. (Just google Major Neal Cuevas North Miami Police Department to see what I’m talking about.)

Because of his own insecurity, incompetency and extreme paranoia that someone was “leaking information” to the media, Chief Lenny unceremoniously removed Major Cuevas from his well deserved PIO position (who also stood in for the city’s PIO, whenever necessary), and replaced him with newly hired Police Officer Natalie Buisserith.  As I reported in Flushing Out The Mole on March 25, 2015:

Officer Buisserith’s previous gig was the PIO of the Town of Medley, Florida, a 4.3 square mile outpost located in western Miami-Dade County, populated by 838 brave souls.  It’s Motto is “The perfect place for industrial development.”  Medley’s crime stats are so infinitesimal, the Town isn’t even listed in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics website.

Why the Medley Police Department even needs a Public Information Officer remains one of life’s greatest mysteries.

As amiable, pleasant and eager to please as she is, Officer Buisserith is simply not yet experienced enough to handle the intricate job as PIO for the sixth largest municipality in Miami-Dade County, especially a city with one of the highest crime rates in the State of Florida, and an even greater crime rate than the national average.

Officer Buisserith is certainly not experienced enough to manage all the crises generated by the incompetent Chief of Police.

It should be noted that Brian Andrews’ contract was also negotiated and signed by Team Lenny Co-Captains, City Clerk Michael Etienne and Interim City Manager Arthur Sorey.  While Michael Etienne famously interjected himself into Lenny’s defense of bogus crime stats, it was under the watch of Arthur Sorey that Brian Andrews $24,000.00 sweetheart deal was signed, sealed and delivered.

It’s also worth noting that, like Assistant Chief Larry Juriga’s “redneck settlement,” this amount of $24,000.00 is also under the $25,000.00 discretionary spending limit.

Just saying.

And finally, it MUST be noted that Arthur Sorey is one of 62 applicants for the position of City Manager, which item is to be discussed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.  If Sorey is chosen as the permanent City Manager, North Miami can expect more of the same crap that’s been going on since Chief Leonard Burgess has been running the Police Department.

If North Miami residents want to curtail the unnecessary bleeding of their tax dollars, put an end to the corruption, and restore the reputation of their Police Department, I strongly suggest they attend Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.  They need to line up at the podium on Tuesday night to tell their representatives at City Hall to choose a City Manager who will stop the bullshit going on at the police department for once and for all.

North Miami residents deserve better.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”

UPDATE:  As of October 1, 2015, the City of North Miami Beach renewed its contract with Brian Andrews USA, LLC for a “monthly flat fee” of $2,000.00, which is the same fee being charged to the City of North Miami.