The City of North Miami is having an NMBPD Mugshot Moment. Only this time it appears that instead of a piece of paper, a real human was the target.
In a story that has gone internationally viral to absolutely no one’s surprise, a North Miami Police Officer shot an unarmed black man who, unlike Michael Brown, actually had his hands up when he was shot anyway.
In a press conference held this morning at 11:30 am, newly appointed North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene made a statement, advising the media that in order to insure impartiality, he turned the entire investigation over to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Chief made it clear that he and his new team are committed to transparency and that moving forward any and all future police involved shootings will continue to be turned over to the FDLE.
Unfortunately, it appears that in the North Miami Police Department, there are still inmates running the asylum.
Although it does appear that the city may be liable for an untold amount of money in claims and damages, the only small, but significant, silver lining is that thank goodness no one was killed.
While the undo-able damage has already been done, it’s glaringly obvious that the systemic problems still plaguing the North Miami Police Department are a direct result of two years’ worth of the incompetent “leadership” of the recently resigned Police Chief Leonard Burgess. Most of, if not all, of the NMPD’s current woes can be chalked up to the ineptitude of the former administration, including, and especially, the lack of proper officer training under his watch.
Just a scant three months ago, the NMPD failed its accreditation assessment by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA) in a number of areas, including training. As a result of Chief Lenny’s inability to professionally run a law enforcement agency, the NMPD lost its certification and is now forced to start the process all over again.
And let’s not forget, thanks to Chief Lenny’s insistence on keeping a serial predator cop on his roster, the city is still facing possible financial damages due to the most recent antics of Officer Jodlyn Antoine.
No doubt, there is much work to be done by Chief Gary Eugene’s new Executive Command Staff. Let’s hope it’s done without further delay!
Chief Lenny might be gone, but it’s apparent that the individuals who pulled his strings and propped him up during his two year tenure are still desperately trying to run the show. Clearly, these individuals are also doing everything they can to try to undermine the new administration.
For example, at approximately 10:40 am this morning, the amateur Public Information Officer Natalie Buissereth sent out a hastily written release announcing that a press conference will be held at 11:00 am, giving the media a whopping 20 minutes to get to the police station.
On top of that dubious action, she even got the date wrong.
This sheer act of stupidity caused the Twittersphere to go absolutely BONKERS!
@nmpdnews 18th? 3 days ago..today
— Shazzarazza (@shazza_razza) July 21, 2016
There is absolutely no spin of this story that could even remotely refute the clear events portrayed on a cell phone video that has now circulated the world a hundred times over. Judging by what is recorded by that video, it seems pretty clear what happened.
According to news reports, the victim stated that when he asked the officer why he shot him, the response he received was, “I don’t know.” The police officer has yet to confirm or deny that statement, but I will assume he was advised against doing so by his legal counsel.
So far, neither the FDLE nor the State Attorney have released the identity of the police officer.
I have no doubt that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct an independent and professional investigation.
More importantly, by now it should be obvious that the ludicrous policies enacted by Chief Lenny, and carried out by his incompetent appointees and cronies, were grossly ineffective. They did not work then, and they will not work now.
The newly appointed administration, who were only sworn in a week ago, must start setting new polices and making the necessary staff changes in order to bring the NMPD back to its former status as a first class law enforcement agency, as well as regain its CFA state accreditation.
It’s time for the grownups to take charge of the North Miami Police Department.
Stephanie
Unfortunately for the newly appointed command staff, there are some officers in the department who never should have been hired in the first place. Obviously, there are others who need to be terminated. We should never tolerate any officer of sub-par ability or having a questionable record.
Whichever officer shot the man on the ground with his hands up should be FIRED! None of us are safe if he is around and poor judgement and stupidly is his character. He doesn’t belong in the North Miami Police Department!
We finally have a man of quality and honesty in Chief of Police Gary Eugene. This is an indisputable fact because he turned this investigation over to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. We can all be convinced that our police department is moving in the right direction and that Chief Eugene, nor his newly appointed Assistant Chiefs, will not tolerate this kind of incompetence.
We all know that there are still some in the department who would have made one excuse after another to justify what happened. These same officers would NEVER have wanted any form of an independent investigation. These are the present members of the department who need to take their retirement and move on. There is no doubt you know exactly who you are.
The residents of North Miami should thank Chief of Police Gary Eugene for having the courage and determination necessary to make the North Miami Police Department one that all residents can be proud of.
Thank you for your comments, Ellen. You are so right! Keep in mind that those who would have made excuses for an unjustified shooting are the very same people who are doing their best to make the new Chief look bad. These are nasty, calculating individuals with self-serving agendas, whose only allegiance was to Chief Lenny because they knew they could control him, along with the narrative. As long as those people are still employed by the PD, Chief Eugene and his team will always have to watch their backs. I’m sure they appreciate that you’ve got their backs for them!
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mug-shots-in-target-practice-spur-sniper-training-suspension/
“Practice makes perfect”
The police union chief John Rivera said that the cop was trying to shoot the autistic man because he thought the man was going to harm the therapist. That is to say, the cop alleges that he intended to shoot the white man but missed his target -grossly. A police man who misses his target, so much so that he strikes the wrong person, has a serious eyesight problem and should not even be driving, let alone shooting.
That was my point exactly. There was an obvious lack of training in the NMPD in the last few years. Or something. Which is one of the reasons the department lost its certification under Chief Leonard Burgess’ administration. Just saying.
If I was an officer and the police union had that attorney represent me I would ask for somebody who had a brain in their head. How the hell can anybody sound so stupid?
From bad to worse. Newly appointed Commander Emile Hollant suspended for allegedly lying about his involvement in the case. Nice selection Chief!
Interesting comment considering that Commander Hollant has never been in trouble before, and that there is usually a presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
It’s also more interesting that a mysterious “source” told Channel 7 News, “there are a lot of angry police officers in Miami, Friday, because they believe Officer Aledda is being wrongly punished. These police officers believe the shooting is the fault of Commander Hollant who wrongly said the man with autism was loading a gun.”
Never mind that those same “angry police officers” are ready to blame Commander Hollant’s statement over the radio that “he [the autistic man] is loading up a gun” as the sole reason Officer Aledda fired, despite the fact that a second officer could be heard over the radio, “The person advised that it is a toy. It is a toy car.”
Oh, and let’s conveniently forget that a four year veteran, who is ostensibly a highly trained SWAT sniper, missed his target.
Oops!
But, yeah. Let’s all jump to conclusions and blame someone else.
After all, Illuminati rules, right?