It’s no secret that the majority of North Miami residents, especially those in the Haitian community, are incensed about City Manager Larry Spring’s unseemly choice for a chief of police.  No other city manager (outside of Opa-locka anyway) would have even considered such a profoundly unfit candidate.

Some members of the council are also upset by Spring’s inexplicable decision even if they have no choice in the matter.

Folks are even more outraged about the demotion of 44-year veteran Assistant Police Chief Neal Cuevas by three ranks.

At the end of last Tuesday night’s City Council meeting (hour 1:44:52), Councilman Alix Desulme, Councilman Philippe Bien-Aime and Mayor Smith Joseph spoke out against this shocking move.

Councilman Desulme set the tone by proclaiming, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Amen to that!

Under intense interrogation by Councilman Bien-Aime, City Manager Larry Spring frantically attempted to defend the actions of his newly appointed chief … by lying through his teeth.

Let us recount.

Lie #1:  “I do not make decisions for the police chief.”

Here’s the truth:

When asked by Councilman Bien-Aime why Assistant Chief Cuevas was demoted, Larry Spring said that it was the “standard operating procedure” of the police department that when a new chief is appointed, he is allowed to choose his command staff, which includes “everyone from the assistant chief down to the commander level.”  Spring insisted it was not his decision, and stated, “I do not make that decision for the chiefs because that is … part of their at-will command staff.”

Larry Spring conveniently forgot how he micromanaged the police department as soon as he appointed former Police Chief Gary Eugene.  When Eugene took over the police department, there were two assistant chief positions.  While he regrettably decided to retain one of the assistant chiefs, Eugene insisted on his choice of Neal Cuevas as his other Assistant Chief.  Larry Spring, however, pressured him to appoint Robert Bage instead to appease “the council people from the east side.”  After a standoff, the Chief was forced to create a third assistant chief position. Gary Eugene told us he had no choice in the matter.

Gary Eugene also confirmed that when he needed to fill two new positions that opened after Major Trevor Shinn retired, he was considering promoting Commander Scott Croye to major and Sergeant Diana Roman to commander.  Instead, the City Manager ordered him to appoint Commander Donald Blanchard to major and Sergeant Angelo Brinson to commander.  Again, he had no choice but to concede to Larry Spring’s demands.

And, finally, after Chief Gary Eugene discovered that his assistant chief Juriga lied to him about Commander Hollant’s involvement in the unjustified shooting of an unarmed black man, in his testimony to the FDLE, Eugene stated he wanted to fire Juriga on the spot.  Larry Spring and his Deputy City Manager, Arthur “Duke” Sorey, immediately stepped in to prevent the Chief from doing his job.

As you can see, City Manager Larry Spring’s protestations that he’s hands-off when it comes to the decisions of the police chief is a bold-faced lie.

Lie #2:  “Other assistant chiefs, other majors, commanders have been demoted.”

Here’s the truth:

While continuing to defend his new chief’s command staff changes, Larry spring spat out, “Others have been demoted.  Other assistant chiefs, other majors, commanders have been demoted.”

In its entire 92-year history, not one assistant chief has ever been demoted.

In fact, there has only been one previous incident where two members of the North Miami Police Department’s command staff were demoted.  Shortly after Chief Marc Elias was appointed in September of 2011, he demoted two majors one rank to their last civil service equivalent, commanders.

His decision was based on lies intentionally fed to him by certain individuals, i.e., “Illuminati” members, who took advantage of the fact that Elias was an outsider when he arrived.  One of those demoted majors chose to retire, while the other fought back.  Within six months, Chief Elias reversed his decision once he realized he had been hoodwinked.

At no time before or since that unfortunate incident has there ever been another command staff demotion.  Until now, that is.

Which demotion, not surprisingly, was perpetrated by a member of the exact same corrupt group of cops who influenced Chief Elias and who are now in charge of the department.

Larry Spring’s insistence that other assistant chiefs have been demoted is a bold-faced lie.

Lie #3:  Assistant Chief Neal Cuevas “was rolled back to his last ranked position.”

Here’s the truth:

When asked about Assistant Chief Neal Cuevas’ demotion, Larry Spring declared that he “was rolled back to his last ranked position, which is sergeant.”

As we previously mentioned, when Neal Cuevas and this current chief were sergeants, they both took the civil service exam for the rank of lieutenant, which at the time was the next rank above sergeant.

While your new chief FAILED that civil service test, Cuevas scored at the top of the list.  He was then promoted to Lieutenant, which makes that his last civil service position.

Subsequently, former Police Chief Stephen Johnson decided to eliminate the position of lieutenant, which was earned by passing the civil service exam, and replace it with the equally ranked, but non-civil service, position of commander.

Thus, Larry Spring’s declaration that Assistant Chief Neal Cuevas’ last ranked position was sergeant is a bold-faced lie.

If the City Manager can so easily lie on the record to his bosses on the dais about such important matters, who else has he lied to?

The SEC, perhaps?

Just asking.

With so many qualified applicants for the position of chief of police, it’s a sheer mystery why Larry Spring would choose someone with so much baggage.

Then again, water truly does seek its own level.  Mr. Spring is no stranger to excess baggage himself.

Stay tuned.

Stephanie