Police panel suggests firing controversial Miami cop, sidestepping IA finding
A three-member panel made up of senior Miami police officers has recommended demoting — and potentially firing — a veteran cop who has accumulated dozens of citizen complaints and who’s been a thorn in the side of the department brass for several years.
The determination by the agency’s Disciplinary Recommendation Panel also conflicts with a pair of Internal Affairs findings in 2021 that cleared Miami Police Capt. Javier Ortiz of any wrongdoing in two incidents: his actions after he pulled over the driver of a car and another time when he turned in overtime sheets for his work.
The review board was put in place by Miami Police Chief Manny Morales earlier this year. The group reviews and passes along recommendations on any discipline that does not have a specific penalty tied to it. The rotating panel’s current members are police Maj. Chiquita Thomas, Maj. Daniel Garrido and Cmdr. Winsor Lazano.
Ortiz attorney Rick Diaz bashed the findings, likening the group to a kangaroo court.
“It’s like the end justifies the means. We’re going to put a panel together to get the result that we want,” Diaz said. “It violates all the norms and senses of double jeopardy.”
The panel’s findings, which came less than three months after Morales reassigned the commander who oversaw the Internal Affairs investigations that had cleared Ortiz, now go to the captain’s division chief for further recommendation. Ortiz then has the opportunity to tell his story and request a hearing before the city’s Disciplinary Review Panel, which passes recommendations on to the chief for a final decision.
But firing a cop — even one with the baggage carried by Ortiz, who has been at the center of a string of controversies and investigations — is far from a sure thing with all the protections afforded officers. Fired cops can request a hearing before an outside arbiter, and the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights allows officers to gather information, even a list of witnesses, ahead of interviews. The U.S. Supreme Court’s judicially created doctrine of “qualified immunity” also relieves police and cities from most financial liabilities resulting from an on-duty incident.
Ortiz has been on paid suspension since Morales replaced fired Police Chief Art Acevedo last fall. The former big-name Houston chief came to town on a reform wave with promises to take a hard look into the controversial officer but surprised many by keeping him in uniform, even embracing him. Ortiz has been on paid leave since Morales was named chief.
Morales refused to comment directly on the findings, saying he needs to “see all the facts,” before ultimately determining if Ortiz should be punished or let go.
The first incident the panel addressed was in July 2021, when Ortiz on a city police motorcycle and stopped the driver of a BMW near downtown Miami. According to the Internal Affairs report, Ortiz pulled the vehicle over for driving recklessly. When the driver repeatedly refused orders to produce papers and get out of the vehicle, Ortiz threatened to Taser him, then took him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Though IA chose not to sustain an allegation of improper procedure, the three-member disciplinary panel recommended Ortiz be demoted because he didn’t tell the driver to move his vehicle to a safer location.
Internal Affairs also exonerated Ortiz on an improper allegation charge for working an excessive number of hours. Investigators determined the captain turned in his time sheet to the supervisor he was told to. But the three-member disciplinary panel took issue with the finding and said Ortiz should have turned it in to his direct supervisor at the time, then-deputy chief Manny Morales.
For not doing so, they recommended not only a demotion, but termination. Diaz took issue with both findings.
“Recently, six police officers from MPD [Miami Police Department] were given a suspension of hours for being involved in an unauthorized police pursuit that resulted in a death. If parking on a ramp is more serious than the death of a person, you have to question who is making decisions at MPD,” said Diaz. “As for the overtime allegations made by Commissioner [Joe] Carollo, the police department completely exonerated Capt. Ortiz, stating he followed all policies and it was authorized work.”
The panel’s findings were first reported by Miami New Times.
Ortiz, a former three-term police union president who is not averse to using social media as a weapon, has been on the firing line in Miami for years. Last year, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released a two-year state and federal investigation into the captain that was filled with allegations of police brutality that dated back more than a decade. The captain was not criminally charged, however, mostly because of statute of limitation laws. After the report was made public, Ortiz demanded his job back.
The FDLE report also accused him of cyber-stalking and doxing civilians who question his authority or file complaints against him. It didn’t mention a tense exchange in the Miami commission chamber two years ago when Ortiz denied being Hispanic and told the city’s lone African-American commissioner that he was Black, then referred to Blacks as Negroes. His statement ignited a firestorm in the Black community and he was later suspended.
Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 11:38 AM.
