North Miami residents, we know you’ve been on the edge of your seats waiting for the results of our survey question: Which candidate is your choice for Chief of Police?
As promised, here are the names of the ten mystery candidates that we chose to include in our survey.
We invite you to click each one to read their individual applications.
- DOYLE SAMUEL DOTSON
- JOHN E. PATE
- SEAN E. SEIBERT
- STEVEN D. MCCARVER
- ARREN DODSON
- TERENCE M. CALLOWAY
- CRAIG E. MCQUEEN
- ROBERT C. HERTMAN
- LAURENCE ROBERT JURIGA
- ROBERT BAGE
Please keep in mind that this was an unofficial survey designed to assess public opinion for informational purposes only.
Fortunately for Assistant Chief Larry Juriga, we here at VotersOpinion have absolutely no say in who will be appointed as the next police chief for the NMPD.
Unfortunately for North Miami residents, they don’t get to decide, either.
On the plus side, neither does Assistant Chief Robert Bage, who obviously intended to skew the results of this survey by urging his friends, family and cronies to vote for Candidate #10.
News Flash, Robert: City Manager Larry Spring, whose opinion is the only one that matters, will be making the final decision.
Hopefully, he will choose wisely.
Without further ado, here are the results:
The winner with 79% of the votes, was Doyle Samuel “Sam” Dotson, a 24-year law enforcement veteran, who recently retired as the 34th Police Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis (SLMPD).
During his four and a half year administration, he was responsible for an agency of over 2,000 employees, including a 1,300-member police force, and administered an annual budget of $180 million. Chief Sam Dotson served the 300,000 plus residents of the City of St. Louis, Missouri with honor and distinction, reducing crime by 22%.
As we’ve also noted, SLMPD is one of only a dozen to receive the TRI-ARC Award of Excellence from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA), the national accreditation agency.
The philosophy of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department places a strong emphasis on a Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, which states:
As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.
I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to me or to my agency. I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed both in my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.
I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force of violence and never accept gratuities.
I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of police service. I will never engage in acts of corruption or bribery nor will I condone such acts by other police officers. I will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.
I know that I alone am responsible for my own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve my level of knowledge and competence.
I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession…law enforcement.
Impressive!
City Manager Larry Spring indicated that “he wants a candidate with an understanding of North Miami and South Florida but he also plans to prioritize applicants who have dealt with high-pressure scenarios — ‘someone who’s been put in critical situations and performed, someone who can handle crisis and prepare for crisis,'” according to the Miami Herald.
While Chief Dotson has never worked in South Florida, he most certainly has dealt with “high-pressure scentarios” and is more than capable of handling and preparing for crisis.
Needless to say, the North Miami Police Department is sorely in need of a chief of police who will not only strive to reclaim its failed state accreditation (thanks in no small part to Larry Juriga) with the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement, but one who also aspires to achieve national accreditation, as well.
The NMPD is also in need of a police chief who will embrace and uphold a Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.
Apparently, the respondents of our survey agree.
Coming in at a distant second, with 17% of the vote, is Candidate #8, Robert C. Hertman, who is currently the Chief of Police of the Town of Wallkill Police Department, an agency he rebuilt that was deemed “dangerous” by the New York Attorney General.
Chief Hertman retired as a Captain from the New York Police Department in 2001 after 20 years of service. While still a Sergeant, he developed a direct response program which reduced violent crime by 30%. As a Lieutenant he served on a tri-state federal, state and city narcotics task force. As a Captain from 1998 to 1999, he served as the Executive Officer over a precinct consisting of 6 lieutenants, 20 sergeants, 150 police officers and 8 civilian employees.
In his last two years in the NYPD, Chief Hertman commanded the Internal Affairs Bureau of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. Leading a team of 4 lieutenants, 15 sergeants, 25 investigators and 4 civilian employees, he directly supervised the investigation, homicides, armed robberies, sex offenses and grand larcenies involving uniformed and civilian members of the police department.
Survey respondents clearly saw the value of this candidate, especially considering the rampant corruption currently in the North Miami Police Department’s Command Staff.
Just saying.
An honorable mention with 5% of the vote goes to Candidate #6, Terence M. Calloway, Police Chief of the Florida A&M University Department of Campus Safety & Security (FAMU). As we’ve already stated, Chief Calloway began his 17 year career in law enforcement in a small Midwest city department, and was trained in gang and drug resistance.
A decade later he served as the Chief of Police of another department, and also as adjunct professor at a local community college. In 2012, he became the Chief of Police at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, and in 2014, he went on to become the Chief of Police at FAMU, a community of over 25,000 residents.
Chief Calloway’s notable achievement was to oversee the initial national accreditation of his agency with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, something that the North Miami Police Department has never achieved under it’s current leadership.
Lamentably, two of the most highly qualified candidates, both decorated members of the military, did not receive any nods from the respondents of the survey. We suspect this is due to the current trend toward the belief that police departments are becoming too militarized. We are certainly not of that opinion, but survey respondents apparently felt otherwise.
Judging by their respective resumes, both of these honorable men are overqualified to be the chief of the NMPD.
- U.S. Army Colonel Sean E. Seibert, Candidate #3, has served our nation for 34 years and has successfully commanded thousands of troops both at home and abroad.
- U. S. Navy Commanding Officer in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Steven D. McCarver, Candidate #4, is a 24-year veteran law enforcement officer, and was responsible for the training of over 4,000 Iraqi police officers.
We thank you both for your service!
Even though the remaining candidates did not received any votes in our survey, we would be remiss not to give them all a shout out.
- Candidate #2, Chief John E. Pate, the retired Police Inspector for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the Chief of Police of the University Park Police Department, is currently a Training and Development Specialist in the United States Army Reserve.
- Candidate #5, Federal Law Enforcement Officer Arren Dodson of the United States Capitol Police, is responsible for the protection and security of all members of the United States Congress, as well as all visitors to the Capitol building.
- Candidate #7, Major Craig E. McQueen, who retired last year from the City of Miami Police Department, is a 25-year law enforcement veteran who oversaw a multitude of units during his career, and is also a police instructor in firearms, tactical communication and CALEA mandatory training.
And, lastly, because this was our project, we took the liberty of eliminating from the results the two members of the NMPD Junior Varsity Team, Assistant Chiefs Larry Juriga and Robert Bage.
Apparently, Juriga is more interested in filing bogus discrimination complaints – and “risking” his life on Operation Community Bike Ride – than protecting and serving the residents of North Miami.
As we’ve already mentioned, Juriga has spent the majority of his 23 years with the NMPD safely nestled in the investigative section, where his greatest achievement was being self-appointed as the department’s Fitness Coordinator and Wellness Representative.
This title goes hand in hand with his second “job” with the Miami Dolphins, which entails the dangerous duty of traveling with the team to football games.
Instead of a career in law enforcement, Larry probably should have stuck with the Parks and Recreation Department, where he began his very first job in the City of North Miami.
Robert Bage, who is slightly more qualified than Larry Juriga to be the chief of police, managed to scare up 13 votes in addition to his own. His brazen attempt at manipulating this survey is painfully transparent.
We are firmly convinced that anyone who read the other candidates’ qualifications couldn’t possibly vote for someone whose signature career achievement was to coordinate the merger of the Sanitation and Minimum Housing Units.
Nevertheless, Captain Obvious, you deserve a Participation Trophy for all your hard work on community bike rides.
We still have no idea who City Manager Larry Spring will appoint as the Chief of the North Miami Police Department. It could be one of the ten candidates we chose for our survey, or any of the other applicants not listed here.
It is indisputable, however, that the NMPD is one hot mess.
If Larry Juriga were to be chosen as chief, it would be more of the same.
Absolutely nothing would change.
Real reform can only be accomplished if City Manager Larry Spring hires a professional law enforcement officer from outside the NMPD to overhaul the agency.
North Miami residents deserve so much better.
Stephanie
the city manager is not going to do the right thing. he needs “yes men” with his “we are on this boat together” attitude.
as I’ve said before, spring will fall and the duck will be right there to continue business as usual. as he said on his speech ” I intend to hit the ground running”. the duck can hardly walk, I can’t see him running or do anything in this city but follow the same playbook his predecessors had, all but spring. he seems to play his game and yes him to death, but he seems to have real contempt for him, especially every time he brings him a bottled water, or coffee. talk about smooching…
I don’t ever remember the NMPD having received applicants with such a stellar CV. My vote went for # 1, I cant see anyone voting for # 9 and even less for # 10, they just do not sum up… hey, no “sak pase” on the list.
Some of those applications were so impressive, all I could do was wonder why they’d even want to work in North Miami. Then again, most are retired so they probably just want to come to Florida for the weather. Hurricanes notwithstanding.
Juriga’s resume doesn’t hold a candle to any of them. Except maybe the wheelchair agent. Or, then again, maybe not.
I’m not sure why anyone would come to work here. It’s where careers come to die, and usually not peaceful retirement end of life. Usually it’s a humiliating blaze of non glory. May the odds ever be in this new persons favor.