In Miami, Long and Bitter Feud With Mayor Pushes Police Chief Close to Dismissal
MIAMI — Police Chief Miguel A. Exposito, whose nearly two-year tenure has been marked by numerous clashes with the mayor and a series of police shootings of unarmed black men, was suspended from his job on Tuesday in a move that could be the prelude to his dismissal.City Manager Johnny Martinez told Chief Exposito that he was suspended during a closed-door meeting. The Miami Herald reported that the chief left the meeting on Tuesday morning accompanied by his lawyer, Ruben Chavez, and that both men declined to comment.
Chief Exposito, a 37-year veteran who took over the department in November 2009, said in an e-mail that he was not allowed to speak to the news media without approval. Mr. Chavez also did not return phone messages.
Maj. Manuel Oroso, a 31-year veteran, was appointed by the city manager to be acting chief.
The feud between the mayor and police chief has been bitter and public. Last fall, the mayor, Tomas P. Regalado, accused the Police Department of conducting surveillance on him. He said he felt “very threatened” after noticing a suspicious car outside his home.
Chief Exposito later accused the mayor of improperly trying to curtail a covert police investigation into illegal gambling.
The fate of the chief now apparently rests with the Miami City Commission. Under the City Charter, the chief has one week to ask the commission to evaluate the city manager’s decision.
If he chooses to appeal, the commission would act as a quasi-judicial panel evaluating the facts. By majority vote, the commission can vote to overturn the suspension. If a majority of commissioners do not overturn the suspension, the chief would be dismissed.
Last week, Chief Exposito sent a letter arguing that he had been unfairly singled out by Mayor Regalado since Dec. 29, when the chief asked the F.B.I. to investigate whether the mayor had interfered with a police raid aimed at video-gambling machines.
In the letter, the chief’s lawyer sought whistle-blower protection for the chief based on “a good faith belief that Chief Exposito was targeted and continues to be targeted as a result of his actions in reporting Mayor Regalado’s actions.”
The mayor has repeatedly denied interfering with the police raid.
The mayor and the chief, both Cuban-Americans, began as allies. Earlier last year, they praised the arrest of city employees and police officers on corruption charges. But after most of those cases fell apart, the tensions between them grew, and the breakdown accelerated after Mr. Regalado pushed to legalize a variety of gambling machines, a decision that Chief Exposito adamantly opposed.
Several city commissioners have repeatedly complained that the clashes between the mayor and the chief, which have played out often before the City Commission, have threatened to plunge the city into political dysfunction.
In March, after the seventh black man was shot and killed by Miami police officers in eight months, victims’ family members assailed the chief’s leadership at a City Commission meeting. Some of them demanded the chief’s dismissal.
At that time, Chief Exposito defended his leadership and his officers’ judgment.
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