Brash Miami police captain faces potential criminal probe over off-duty pay
A Miami police captain could find himself under criminal investigation over excessive off-duty work — a probe triggered at his own suggestion, sort of.
It’s the latest trouble for brash Javier Ortiz, who oversees the department’s SWAT and bomb squad teams but has found himself repeatedly in the spotlight over social media scraps with Beyonce as well as fellow law enforcement officers and other critics.
The potential criminal probe stems from an oversight panel looking into a string of allegations raised by a former Miami cop against Ortiz. The Civilian Investigative Panel dismissed several allegations and delayed a decision on another but investigator Elisabeth Albert filed a report finding that Ortiz, also a former police union president, had worked more off-duty hours than permitted under city policy — in one case 27 hours in one day during Miami’s Calle Ocho festival.
“According to the records reviewed by staff, Capt. Ortiz has not only repeatedly violated policy, but has also violated the core values of the Miami Police Department,” Albert wrote.
But Ortiz, who showed up at a preliminary hearing two weeks ago to defend himself, argued that the CIP investigator’s report was inaccurate and that he was being accused of criminal activity. So this week, when the board was expected to vote on the issue, CIP Executive Director Cristina Beamud and legal counsel John Quick decided instead to refer the off-duty pay finding for possible criminal investigation.
“It’s going to the state attorney’s office and the FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] tomorrow,” Quick told board members during Tuesday evening’s meeting. “If they don’t investigate it or it gets kicked, then it can come back.”
The CIP, which was created by city ordinance, is an independent group composed of civilians that is tasked with police oversight but not allowed to act on potential criminal matters itself. Normally, if the board sustains investigative findings, the city’s police chief determines what action to take — not prosecutors.
“He’s [Ortiz] the one who said if I did this, it would be criminal,” Beamud said. “We all agreed that if proven it would be criminal and the records alone would not be able to sustain the allegations.”
On Thursday, the State Attorney’s Office wouldn’t comment on whether it received the documents or planned to investigate the issue.
The oversight panel’s move drew social media backlash from Ortiz — in real time. Though he didn’t attend the meeting, within minutes of learning of the decision and while the board was still meeting, Ortiz tweeted that Beamud was a “documented racist.”
The police captain was referring to a decision made by Beamud when she was hired back in 2014 to fire a black CIP employee named Shewanda Hall for insubordination. Hall filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming discrimination and naming Beamud. The city finally settled the lawsuit last month for $150,000.
The CIP panel responded to Ortiz’s tweet quickly. Shortly after the decision was made to involve the state attorney, the panel voted to sustain another allegation against Ortiz, this one supporting a finding by its investigator Albert that the captain abused police protocol with his social media smackdowns.
At the preliminary hearing two weeks ago that he attended, Ortiz wasn’t shy about ripping the investigation in person. He told board members it was “a sham” and said he hadn’t stolen any money. He provided a city payroll stub that showed he only worked 10.5 hours on the day in question.
On Thursday, CIP Assistant Director Rodney Jacobs said the payroll stub Ortiz showed up with was from this year, but the off-duty work hours that were being investigated were from 2018.
“Capt. Ortiz provided documents to our office, the staff reviewed the documents, some of which were inapplicable,” said Jacobs. “The remaining documents as well as the facts compiled by the CIP will be forwarded to the SAO to ensure we do not engage in a potential criminal investigation.”
Ortiz, reached for comment after the decision to forward his pay case to prosecutors, blasted the board.
“They couldn’t investigate the theft of cookies and make a conviction even if they had the Cookie Monster on video,” he said. “The FOP sees them as a joke. I look forward to being cleared by the SAO [state attorney’s office]. I plan to take legal action against the CIP for slandering my reputation and [that] of the Fraternal Order of Police.”
Ortiz’s social media outbursts have been well-documented. He’s used it to pick fights with residents, city leaders, even Beyonce, one of the world’s biggest musical superstars. But for the most part, his supervisors have let him be, citing First Amendment rights and determining that most of the posts were done while Ortiz was acting in his capacity with the Fraternal Order of Police. Recently he’s been taking aim at Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Back in 2016 Ortiz was relieved of duty with pay after a Florida Highway Patrol officer told a judge that the captain stalked her after she walked out of a CIP hearing. Claudia Castillo, whose video while pulling over a Miami cop for speeding went viral, was there complaining about how Ortiz had treated her.
The captain used social media to call her a #COPHater and posted a picture of her drinking what he claimed to be a beer while steering a boat. She later said it was a Pepsi. He also posted a picture of her business card and urged followers to call her. Internal Affairs eventually determined Ortiz broke department policy by posting the pictures and the phone number and he was reprimanded.
Ortiz’s off-duty work and his social media habits were only three of seven allegations against the captain raised by a former colleague. They also determined that allegations that the captain was unreasonably promoted and that he benefited financially from raises he was instrumental in creating, were unfounded. They tabled an allegation until after an internal affairs investigation is complete that Ortiz helped a friend benefit by allowing him to use a city helicopter. And they did not sustain another allegation that he was responsible for having another officer transferred.
Miami Herald Staff Writer David Ovalle contributed to this story.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
