According to an email I just received, Jewish Community activist Alan Sakowitz sent out a newsletter this morning advising his readers that North Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Rand, “On the morning of November 4, 2021, North Miami Beach Chief of Police, Richard Rand, has submitted his letter of retirement to the City Manager. The effective date of his retirement is December 31, 2021.”
Sakowitz went on to write, “If the police department remains politicalized [sic] and Chief Rand indeed retires and many of the rank and file become demoralized by the political pressures, our safety and security will suffer.”
As you can imagine, the rumors are now flying and the spin doctors are at work.
City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey is now spreading vicious, defamatory lies about Chief Rand, and disparaging him to Mayor Anthony DeFillipo in an attempt to ruin Rand’s reputation. We hope the Chief has a good lawyer!
Criminal Commissioner Paule Villard, who is the ringleader behind this whole fiasco, is telling her clueless followers that Mayor DeFillipo wanted to get rid of the Chief and defund the police, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Who didn’t see this coming?
We did, and we said so the minute the four Criminal Commissioners, Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond, Paule Villard, and Daniela Jean, hired Duke Sorey.
Just six months ago, we wrote:
There are also rumors of a possible shake-up in the Police Department. This does not bode well at all for residents, who for decades have had the privilege of being professionally served by the award-winning North Miami Beach Police Department.
In 2019, we reported that the North Miami Beach Police Department was the first law enforcement agency in Miami-Dade County to become accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) in 1991, and the first ever in the County to achieve “EXCELSIOR” status. One of the criteria for this award is that agencies must pass five successful reaccreditation cycles. The honorary distinction of “EXCELSIOR” recognition takes 17 years to achieve and is the highest recognition the accreditation agency bestows.
On June 26, 2019, the North Miami Beach Police Department achieved this honor for the third time in a row!
Under the outstanding leadership of Police Chief Richard Rand, there is no doubt that the North Miami Beach Police Department is on its way to achieving this honor for the fourth time in 2022.
Unless, of course, Arthur “Duke” Sorey screws everything up by bringing in his second rate police cronies from North Miami — just because he can.
Unfortunately, this morning our prediction has come true.
The writing was on the wall on August 10, 2021, when Sorey hired his buddy from North Miami, Adam “33” Burden, as “Special Advisor to the City Manager,” at a salary of $150,800 for a part-time position.
This is the same Adam Burden who was brought in to North Miami as “police consultant” “to steer a bogus IA investigation” against former North Miami Police Commander Emile Hollant, who was framed by Sorey & Co. for a police shooting that didn’t even involve the Commander.
Yes, Duke Sorey is that manipulative … and evil.
It’s common knowledge that the four Criminal Commissioners want to create an all-Black/Haitian government.
Obviously, a white, Jewish Chief of Police was not gonna fly.
So Richard Rand had to go.
Duke Sorey probably had nothing against Chief Rand personally, or the color of his skin. After all, he fully supported North Miami’s lily white Police Chief Larry Juriga, whom he helped get rid of Commander Hollant — a Haitian police officer.
But, in North Miami Beach he’s taking his marching orders from the four Criminal Commissioners who hired him, and they obviously want Richard Rand out of the picture.
Duke will never throw his four bosses under the bus, so he will create a fictionalized version of why Rand is being forced to resign in order to cover for them.
And, yes, this is the very sword Duke is willing to fall on because, let’s face it, according to his Employment Contract, if he’s fired he walks away with a severance package of “twenty (20) weeks of his regular base salary,” worth $92,307.69, and health insurance for 20 weeks as well.
Meanwhile, everyone can thank Alan Sakowitz for supporting the four Criminal Commissioners, and urging his readers to vote for them in exchange for a camera on every corner.
Hey, Alan. How’s that working out for you?
Meanwhile, Channel 10 reporter Rosh Lowe is at the North Miami Beach Police Department right now preparing to air a story at noon today. We will update this breaking news as new developments arise.
Stephanie
UPDATE: Watch Channel 10’s coverage of this breaking story here:
North Miami Beach police chief abruptly resigns
UPDATE #2: Alan Sakowitz just sent out a second email entitled “Mission Accomplished,” in which he announced:
Late last night it looked like with the dawn of a new day, the safety and security of the entire North Miami Beach community would be on a downward spiral.
Fortunately, Neither the Mayor nor any Commissioner was willing to let that happen. Four of the commissioners told me they absolutely will refuse to accept Chief Richard Rand’s letter of retirement. The Mayor and five commissioners immediately got involved and went to see the City Manager. The last Commissioner was out of town but immediately called the City Manager.
We are not Portland and we are not Minneapolis. We count on the brave men and women of the police department to keep our community safe. We stand with them and we stand with Chief Richard Rand.
As the day started, the mood among the officers I spoke with was somber. They love their chief and all he accomplished. One officer said every City Manager has a different style but intimidation is not a style and if it persists it will destroy a great North Miami Beach police department.
Thank you for the outpouring of letters from our commonly [sic] to the City Manager and the members of the City Commission. Quickly your letters were forwarded to several other neighborhoods in North Miami Beach and the support began to swell. The media received copies of the letter and Channel 10 covered the story.
Because of the quickness of each of you that sent a letter and absolute, unwavering support of the Mayor and the six commissioners, the matter was resolved by noon today. No more letters are needed. With the backdrop of your showing support, the media outside and the entire commission supporting our great Chief, the City Manager asked Chief Richard Rand to rescind his retirement letter and assured the Chief that he will be given the ability to operate the Police Department without unreasonable interference.
Chief Richard Rand is grateful for the immediate showing of support by the entire commission and the immediate outpouring support and emails from our community members.
Together we are making a difference.
Alan Sakowitz
So now the four Criminal Commissioners are distancing themselves from the situation they created and pretending it was all Duke Sorey’s doing. Apparently, they had no idea the hornet’s nest they were walking into when they ordered their houseboy to ditch Chief Rand.
After all, Paule Villard is running for re-election next year and she’s gonna need all the support she can muster up to keep her seat. Unless, of course, she’s arrested and removed from office before then. (And that’s all we’re saying about that.)
In the meantime, this is definitely not the end of this story. We are on top of this fiasco and will be reporting any new developments.
Stephanie
N Miami Beach is turning into the same cesspool as N Miami. Just give these people enough rope, and plenty of money to stick in their back pockets, and you can kiss the positive qualities of the communities good bye. It’s astonishing that there are no state and or county authorities capable of engaging in a forensic audit of the finances of NMB and NM.
Ellen, by now you should know that “the authorities” don’t care about corruption in these insignificant little cities, where public officials run amok and get rich off taxpayer money and vendor kickbacks. It’s just business as usual in South Florida. There is so much fucking corruption, I don’t even know which rock to turn over first. That’s why I haven’t posted any blogs in a while. I wouldn’t know where to begin. It’s disgusting, disheartening, and frustrating. Unless these criminals are prosecuted and held accountable for their actions, nothing will ever change. As you noted, NMB is turning into a cesspool of corruption, and as long as the criminals have a majority on the dais, that cesspool will continue to get deeper and deeper.
He should have never taken the job in the first place. Everyone but Rich saw this coming the day he was sworn in. It’s a shame. A once proud police department going down the drain. But this started a while back even before the last criminal Mayor was elected. The real screwing over of the Pd began with him and his little sidekick Mac. These losers are just putting the finishing touches on it. Glad to be out of that dump after giving the majority of my life to it.
First they need to get rid of Burden making 150K for a part time gig, next the manager needs to mind his own ” fucking” (a word that pours off his tongue like diarrhea pours out your ass during a colonoscopy prep) business and let the chief do his job. Why would a manager hire an employee as a agent for the PD? I’ll assume it’s a made up post within the friends and family plan.
The chief don’t deserve this shit. Nothing will change in NMB as long as this POS is the manager. Rich, there’s a better agency out there that will appreciate having you in command.
You hit the nail on the fucking head. Duke hired Adam Burden to “oversee” the police department, and specifically the Chief. This was what Burden’s role in North Miami was when Gary Eugene was the Chief. While Eugene turned out to be a real disappointment and probably needed babysitting, Duke and then-NM City Manager Larry Spring couldn’t outright fire him, so they brought Burden in to be the de facto Chief.
While Richard Rand is more qualified for his position than Duke is in his, it’s important to note that the four Criminal Commissioners will never be satisfied until they have a black chief, preferably a Haitian. This is their NUMBER ONE GOAL! They might individually like Rand, but he’s not their kind. They ordered Duke to get rid of Rand, and he hired Burden to be his personal henchman.
THIS IS EXACTLY ACCORDING TO THE NORTH MIAMI PLAYBOOK!
Duke Sorey and his cronies, including Burden, the corrupt city attorney, his lapdog Gedel Merzius, and many of the other Friends & Family members he recruited from North Miami, are THE most corrupt bunch of rag-tag thugs ever to run a city government.
And that’s exactly how the four Criminal Commissioners like it.
Thank you, Alan Sakowitz, for supporting THE most corrupt individuals ever to run for office, and by extension THE most corrupt city manager on the planet.
If you work for NMB, I strongly suggest you get your resume out there and earnestly look for another job. Unless you enjoy working for thugs and criminals in a third world government.
Just saying.
I think I’m confused. So Chief Rand resigned then un-resigned? It’s difficult to follow all the trails.
It’s truly heartbreaking that the voters don’t care enough to change things. I’ve seen Stephanie supporting some brilliant candidates, yet the same ol same ol continue getting elected.
Alan Sakowitz is not as smart as he thinks he is, at least when judging the character of our politicians. He also does not speak for the entire community as many think when it involves politics. He’s a good person and means well in most everything, but it’s time our community appointments a spokesperson that actually lives and votes in the city.
Also, our community should not be underestimated. Chief Rand is our friend and has always been there when we needed him. He’s respected by everyone, not just the citizens of NMB. If he’s being micromanaged as was heard from the Mayor, that serves as a warning sign. We are not safe if the Chief is not able to perform his duties as only he is trained to do. And the Mayor said this is not just a problem in the police department. Apparently employees are leaving their jobs. What does that tell us?
We elect our politicians to do right by us as well as the employees. Without good morale, the employees won’t turn out good work which will affect the quality of services.
As the saying goes, Buyer Beware.
I find it hard to believe that Alan Sakowitz is still taking the Criminal Commissioners at their word. Doesn’t he know they lie every time they open their mouths? If he hasn’t realized that yet, he’s really too naive to speak for anyone else, much less the entire Jewish community.
Alan is partially responsible for the disaster that NMB has become. He had a chance to support Antonio Ortega against the corrupt Michael Joseph, and decided to stick with Michael.
Because street cameras.
Or something.
Alan actually believed Michael would put a camera on every corner in the area. What a joke.
Sakowitz needs to get his head out of his ass and disassociate himself from these corruptocrats, or just stay the hell out of North Miami Beach politics. Maybe he should concentrate on his own city, Miami Beach. He’s done enough damage in NMB.