Hialeah fire chief resigns amid allegations of cheating on promotional exam
Hialeah Fire Chief Willians Guerra resigned suddenly Tuesday, two days after the Miami Herald published a story about allegations of cheating involving testing for the highest ranks of the department.
His resignation followed a year-long internal-affairs investigation into allegations of firefighters cheating on a promotional exam in August 2023.
The exam was taken by six candidates vying for promotion to battalion chief or assistant chief of operations. One of the candidates who failed the test, Robert Ortega, filed a formal complaint with the Hialeah Police Department’s Professional Compliance Bureau.
The exam included both written and oral components, with a minimum passing score of 70 out of 100 required for each, and candidates have to pass in order to be eligible for promotion when vacancies open. In a sworn statement to the police department’s internal affairs unit, Ortega said that “a particular employee was given the answers to the oral exam to score exceptionally well.” While Ortega did not name the candidate, he identified the person he believed had received an “unfair advantage” as the one who got a perfect 100 percent score.
The only candidate with a perfect score on the exam was Edward Altidor, chief of the department’s Professional Standards division. Altidor declined to comment, referring questions to his attorney, Naomi Levi Garcia.
“He did not cheat, and he did not have an unfair advantage,” Garcia told the Herald in a statement.
The internal affairs investigation revealed that Division Chief Emmanuel Louis, another candidate who failed the test, had been given a copy of a previous year’s oral exam before the test. Hialeah’s Human Resources department said Louis received the old exam because he was the designated contact for the Fire Department regarding tests. While the exam Louis received was not identical to the one used for the candidates, Human Resources Director Jaramillo-Velez stated it was “very similar.”
Jaramillo-Velez reported to the internal affairs investigation she discovered emails indicating that Louis had forwarded a copy of the oral examination to Altidor before they took the test.
In response to the allegations, the Hialeah Personnel Board considered three potential courses of action: discarding the eligibility list and redoing the oral exam; discarding the entire exam; or maintaining the current eligibility list, which would allow candidates who passed the controversial exam to remain eligible for promotion when a vacancy arises. However, the board has yet to make a decision, saying it was awaiting recommendation from Guerra in a November personnel board meeting.
Guerra told the Herald a week prior his resignation that he was going to make a decision “soon” regarding the allegations without saying whether the exam would be redone. He resigned before announcing a decision.
Guerra had served as fire chief since 2019, when he was appointed interim chief under former Mayor Carlos Hernandez’s administration. He had planned to retire in May 2025. Guerra began his career with the Hialeah Fire Department in 1993, as soon he finished firefighter academy.
The Herald tried to reached Guerra by phone and text, but he didn’t respond.
Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo’s chief of staff told the Miami Herald that since Guerra had been expected to retire in 2025, the city had already reached an agreement with the firefighters’ union to select a new fire chief from within the department.
The department will now be led by Humfredo “Freddy” Perez as interim chief. Before his appointment, Perez served as Division Chief of Logistics and Support Services.
Hermogenes “Hermy” Lacayo, a former battalion chief, is currently serving as interim deputy chief following the unexpected retirement of Deputy Fire Chief Raymond Malin shortly after he was interviewed by internal affairs about the cheating allegations.
“For now there will be no permanent appointments, just interim positions” the mayor’s office told the Herald.
The city firefighters’ union said in a statement to the Herald that the resignation of Guerra will not result in any lapse “in leadership or service” to the community. The union also said it intends to work with the next fire chief “in a committed and harmonious fashion.”
The mayor’s office told the Herald that now that Guerra is no longer in office, city attorneys will need to determine whether the personnel board or the mayor will be responsible for deciding on any disciplinary actions related to the cheating allegations.
The union stated that it does not agree “with the premise of punishing the entire group for an unfair advantage that applied to only a few,” a reference to a recommendation by Jaramillo-Velez to the personnel board that the eligibility list based on the controversial test be discarded.
“Ultimately, the decision rests with the personnel board, not the city or the union,” the union said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 7:51 PM.
