Miami-Dade

Law enforcement

The South Florida cop who won’t stay fired

 

For years, through a variety of chiefs, Opa-locka has been trying to get rid of German Bosque. The firings never stick.

Twenty years of trouble: German Bosque’s record

1990

February 7: Two weeks short of graduating from the Miami-Dade police academy, Bosque is arrested for driving a stolen truck, possession of a firearm and impersonating a police officer. He was carrying a fake police badge, a semi-automatic weapon and wearing a black T-shirt with “POLICE” inscribed on the back. Though later acquitted, he was tossed out of the police academy. At the time, he vowed to try to re-enter the academy.

1992

June 10: Arrested in Jacksonville, jailed for two days and found guilty of driving with a suspended license.

Aug. 16: Hurricane Andrew strikes South Florida. Bosque is hired in Florida City, which is desperate for police in the wake of the storm.

1993

Asked to leave the Florida City after his supervisors discover his tainted record. He is hired as an Opa-locka officer

1994

Sept. 8: Four are killed in a chase involving a stolen car that sped through Opa-locka but crashed outside the city. Bosque had been following the car shortly before the crash. Questions were raised about whether he was pursuing the vehicle against department policy.

1998

March: Suspended five days for an unauthorized police pursuit outside the city.

May: Five-day suspension for another unauthorized police pursuit.

May 22: Bosque calls in sick, complaining of food poisoning, in order to vacation in Cancún.

1999

Feb. 1: Bosque attempts to stop a motorist driving with no headlights. The driver flees at high speed, and Bosque pursues the vehicle until it crashes into a tree. Bosque lies to his superiors, telling them he cut off the chase, then waits 15 minutes, calls in the crash on his personal cell phone as if he had arrived at the scene well after the accident. He is suspended for 20 days.

Sept. 5: Allegations of excessive force are filed by a man who claims that Bosque kicked and punched him repeatedly while he was handcuffed. Deadline to investigate complaint expires. No action taken.

2000

March 1: Bosque is terminated following a high-speed police pursuit that violated policies.

June 12: Bosque is rehired after the PBA successfully wins arbitration.

Aug. 28: Bosque punches a 14-year-old boy three times in the head, telling the youth: “I am the law, if I feel like it right now I can f--- you up and no one will say nothing to me.’’ The assault is witnessed by a fellow officer and Bosque admits striking the boy. The state attorney declines to prosecute.

August 31: Suspended one day for failing to cooperate with the city attorney and for skipping a meeting to go on a trip to Key West.

Dec. 8: Bosque is fired in connection with the incident involving the juvenile.

2001

February 26: Bosque is rehired.

May 8: Bosque’s girlfriend reports that Bosque slapped her in the face while they were sitting in his personal vehicle, then slapped his own face and called police, telling them that she had battered him. An investigation subsequently showed that Bosque’s facial injuries were self-inflicted. Investigators recommended he be terminated immediately. Charges of lying under oath and making a false police report are dropped because the department failed to initiate disciplinary action within 60 days.

July 30: Disciplined for making a false statement on a police report while under oath.

2003

Feb. 12: Man files a complaint alleging he was stopped by Bosque, who ordered him to place his hands on his patrol car. Bosque patted him down, removing $55 from his shirt pocket. Bosque returns all his property except the money. Complaint not sustained.

Sept. 16: Suspended for five days without pay for failing to turn in police reports, after being ordered to do so by a supervisor. .

2004

Jan. 19: Suspended for 45 days after he beat a handcuffed suspect bloody while the suspect was in custody. The victim was beaten until bloody and there was blood spilled all over the station house floor.

March 3: Suspended 15 days without pay for excessive force, spitting on a suspect and using racial epithets. State places his police certification on probation.

May 27: Suspended for one day after he refused a direct order to handle a call, telling his supervisor: “This is bull---.”

July 15: Suspended for three days without pay for beating a man in the sally port of the Miami-Dade County jail.

July 22: Accused of fondling a corrections officer inside his locked police car. He receives no discipline because investigators said the woman admitted she failed to say “no.”

Oct. 16: Charged with a misdemeanor after he packed an undeclared loaded handgun in the cargo luggage at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport. Case was later dropped after he told police his girlfriend had packed the bag.

2005

Jan. 27: Bosque is terminated after an internal affairs probe finds that while under suspension with pay Bosque was moonlighting during work hours as an ambulance driver.

Sept. 28: City settles with Bosque, allowing him to be reinstated in exchange for a three-month suspension without pay.

2008

Feb. 7: Narcotics evidence in two of Bosque’s cases is missing. A vehicle inspection of Bosque’s patrol car uncovers several crack pipes, Florida auto tags, several ID cards and an empty Smirnoff vodka bottle. Investigators said the properties should have been properly bagged, labeled and impounded. Subsequently, IA investigators find that a baggie of suspected cocaine he seized a month earlier also was not placed into evidence, and was also found in his car. The state attorney’s office declines to prosecute, saying that there was no corrupt intent.

Jun 12, Bosque is terminated by Opa-locka’s city manager, against the police chief’s wishes.

July 17, Bosque is reinstated with back pay after the FOP files a grievance.

August 15: Bosque is terminated by city manager again in connection with the Feb. 7 search of his police vehicle.

Nov. 2008: City settles with Bosque, returning him to the force.

2009

Feb. 7: Man says Bosque swept his legs out from under him, punched him in the stomach and cuffed him after he tried to come to the aid of his mother, who was being treated by paramedics. The complaint is unsustained.

2010

Feb. 19: A mechanic observes damage to the undercarriage of Bosque’s car. Police also find a number of Florida driver’s licenses and a counterfeit $20 bill.

March 15: An internal affairs investigation is launched into “suspicious behavior” by Bosque during the night hours. Bosque’s superiors suspect that Bosque had been stopping young women as they leave the Lexx Club, a local strip joint. They are not able to prove their suspicions.

July 12: A 16-year-old boy playing basketball alleges that Bosque slapped him twice in the head. The internal affairs case is dropped when investigators let the case expire.

2011

Jan. 24: Promoted to sergeant

2012

May: Bosque is suspended with pay after he allows a newspaper reporter to ride in his police vehicle without permission. During the unauthorized interview he gloats about how many times he has been arrested and suspended. “I’m an excellent police officer but I break the rules,’’ he says.


jbrown@MiamiHerald.com

Bosque said he has worked under 16 different police chiefs in 19 years with the force.

Retired North Miami Police Maj. Bob Lynch said politics has been eating away at police departments for almost three decades.

“If a police chief doesn’t have the power to fire them he or she is helpless,” said Lynch, a police instructor in Miami. “It comes down to whoever has the final say, whether it’s the human resources director or the mayor. Plenty of police chiefs try to fire nasty cops and get stuck right back with them.”

Sanchez said Bosque’s introduction to him spoke volumes.

“He basically bragged about all the things he’s done and how he got away with everything,” Sanchez said.

“Everyone knows who German Bosque is,” said Sanchez, who was hired shortly after a series appeared in The Sarasota Herald Tribune that featured Bosque as the poster-boy for bad cops. Bosque, without permission, allowed the Sarasota reporter to ride around with him in his patrol car for the story, while joking about his record of misconduct and those who have been unable to get him fired.

Probably the most extraordinary aspect of Bosque’s tenure with the force is that he actually managed to be promoted to sergeant.

Bosque knows the officers don’t like working for him, but he doesn’t care.

“The whole night shift, they only want to sleep. No one wants to work. They do nothing all night long and when I write them up, [the complaints] went nowhere,” Bosque said.

Bosque once spent a year home on suspension while being paid before being reinstated.

“I got my job back. Back on the job — that’s been my whole life.”

WAITING OUT HIS LATEST SUSPENSION

Bosque, who stands about six feet tall and weighs about 200 pounds, lives with his fiancée in North Miami. He is supposed to be home during the day while on suspension, and answers the door with his newly adopted dog, a mutt he rescued who had been hit by a car.

“I love being a policeman. I love looking in the mirror and the person I see,” he said.

He likens the effort to have him fired to a “witch-hunt,” saying that any excessive force he’s used was necessary for the safety of himself and others.

“I’m against police brutality,” said the veteran officer, who says he doesn’t drink, smoke or go out late at night to clubs.

One of the cases he was disciplined for was slapping a 16-year-old teenager three times across the face after the boy’s mother called police during a confrontation with her son. Bosque took the boy in another room and, according to the complaint, Bosque punched the kid three times in the head without provocation, telling the youth: “I am the law, if I feel like it right now I can f--- you up and no one will say nothing to me.’’ The assault was witnessed by a fellow officer, who reported it. Bosque admits striking the boy. The file indicates that internal affairs investigators felt there was enough evidence to charge Bosque criminally with battery, but the state attorney declined to prosecute.

“He was trash, he had gold grills in his teeth,” Bosque says. “The kid is like a thug.”

Bosque was fired after the incident but rehired. The boy’s mother thought he did the right thing. He said she testified on his behalf.

Read more Miami-Dade stories from the Miami Herald

Miami Herald

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category