Review panel for Miami-Dade police blocked as mayor vetoes law over subpoena power

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Friday vetoed legislation to revive the county’s civilian review panel and give it subpoena power to investigate police misconduct. He also vetoed legislation authorizing a November referendum on making the panel permanent through an amendment to the county charter.

In a statement, Gimenez said he would support a panel without subpoena power and expected legislation creating one to come before county commissioners this month.

This is the second time in two years Gimenez has vetoed legislation that would revive the county’s long-dormant police oversight panel, and the latest law was the main commission response to the death of George Floyd and racial-justice demonstrations in the Miami area.

“I think it was thoughtless. And done for political, not social reasons,” said Stephen Hunter Johnson, a lawyer and chairman of the county’s Black Affairs Advisory Board, which backed reviving a panel that the county defunded in 2009, before Gimenez took office.

Florida law bars oversight panels from subpoenaing police officers, so the proposed authority to compel documents and testimony for the panel would be limited in misconduct investigations. Gimenez said he wanted county employees exempt from a panel’s subpoenas, pointing out to commissioners the power would cover elected officials as well.

“I am hopeful,” Gimenez wrote in his veto message Friday, “the board will accept a version of the legislation that prohibits county employees, board members and the mayor from being subpoenaed.”

The legislation, sponsored by Commissioner Barbara Jordan, passed on July 8 by an 8-5 vote, one short of the nine needed to override a Gimenez veto. Jordan later tried to undo the vote and substitute new legislation without subpoena power in an effort to avoid a mayoral veto. That attempt failed, forcing Gimenez to decide between a veto or letting the panel bill become law.

His second veto blocks a November referendum on amending the county charter to create a review panel with subpoena authority, a change that would limit future commissions’ ability to weaken the oversight board’s power.

Legislation calling that referendum also passed July 8, but with a veto-proof majority of 10. The two commissioners that voted against reviving the panel but for the referendum were Joe Martinez and Javier Souto, making them the likely targets for Gimenez to flip and sustain his veto. Neither were immediately available for comment.

On Friday, Jordan said she expected both Gimenez vetoes. While the panel legislation passed narrowly, she pointed to broad support “for this item going to the voters.”

Commissioners would appoint the 13-member panel, which would have the power to investigate complaints against police, Miami-Dade policies and other issues related to law enforcement. It would have no disciplinary power, only the ability to investigate and release public reports. Gimenez vetoed similar legislation in 2018, after the county’s police union and police director objected to the new level of oversight.

In a statement Friday, Gimenez said: “Our law-enforcement officers work very hard every day to build trust with all sectors of our community..We can always find ways to improve, and I welcome an [independent review panel] that helps us to continue to protect our community with fair and impartial policies and practices.”

His likely rival in November’s election for Congress, freshman Democrat U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, issued a statement criticizing the veto. “Mayor Gimenez’s veto blatantly disrespects the Miami-Dade residents who are crying out for accountability — it’s clear he could not be more out of touch.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 6:09 PM.