I am a panel member on the City of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel and I am a member of the complaint committee. We meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 5:30pm at City of Miami City Hall and the public is encouraged to attend to voice their concerns and comments. We provide independent and impartial citizens’ oversight of the Miami Police Department.
Below are the results of the CIP full Panel Meeting from 5/15/2018:
* A woman was strip searched in the middle of the day on the street against her will. -As for the claim of misconduct by all the officers involved, the claim was sustained. Thanks to the body worn cameras we were able to confirm that the officers were clearly unfamiliar with rules for strip searches and that they should not be conducting them on the street in front of the general public. THIS IS A WIN FOR BODY WORN CAMERAS! PLEASE ASK YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO PUSH FOR MORE TECHNOLOGY ON THIS. -As for the claim for discourtesy, the body worn camera revealed that the officers controlled their tempers and acted with firmness and in a diplomatic manner so the claim was non-sustained. -As for the claim for Policy failure for not preparing a response to Resistance Report, the panel is going to research this issue further prior to providing their recommendations to the Chief of Police. More to come on this.
* Officer uses emergency lights to gain right of way. Officer refused to show up and made conflicting statements in her internal Affairs response. The panel sustained the allegation and found the claimant was credible.
* Homeless man asked to leave park or be arrested The claimant made conflicting statements. After reviewing the body worn camera, the panel agreed that the officer’s actions were proper and the panel exonerated the officer. THIS IS A WIN FOR BODY WORN CAMERAS! PLEASE ASK YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO PUSH FOR MORE TECHNOLOGY ON THIS.
* Man felt he was being intimidated by officers for a simple traffic stop so he and his girlfriend filmed the stop. After reviewing the body worn cameras, the panel felt the claimants were the ones who were being rude and the officers maintained their professionalism and that the citation issued was proper. As per the claim of improper procedure for the ticket, the officers were exonerated. As per the claim of discourtesy, the claim was non-sustained. THIS IS A WIN FOR BODY WORN CAMERAS! PLEASE ASK YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO PUSH FOR MORE TECHNOLOGY ON THIS.
* Neighbors fighting over loud music and the claimant felt the police mishandled the matter. The claim of negligence of duty by the officer was non-sustained because the officer did nothing wrong. However the panel is forwarding their findings to the Net Commander and the Director of Code Enforcement for follow-up as they will have more impact on the outcome as the primary issue at hand is a code violation.
* Officer has car towed from a business and shop owner claims the officer was aggressive and antagonistic. -Claim of discourtesy: The claimant had cameras that confirmed that they were calm and that the officer was the one who was aggressive and antagonistic. The claim of discourtesy was sustained. PLEASE ASK YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO REQUIRE OFFICER TO ACTIVATE BODY WORN CAMERAS WHENEVER DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC. -Claim of improper procedure for not wearing Body Worn Camera: the officer did not activate his previously issued body worn camera so the claim was sustained by the panel. -Claim of improper procedure for towing the car: The officer did not follow the procedure set by the Department on this and should not have towed the car. The claim of improper procedure was sustained.
* Man selling chocolate in front of Walgreens was told to leave by officer and then officer followed him home. The claimant could not identify the officer and he did not get his name of vehicle number so his claim for improper procedure was non-sustained by the panel.
Click here if you want to file a complaint for instructions and filing options: http://www.miamigov.com/cip/complaints.html
