Police misconduct under a microscope

By Johania Charles Miami Times Staff Writer

On January 30, 2024

Miami-Dade ICP reviews police misconduct cases while the Legislature considers its elimination

While Florida legislators consider a bill to eliminate civilian-run police oversight panels across the state, the Miami-Dade Independent Civilian Panel is reviewing a set of police misconduct incidents.

Only two of the three cases on a Jan. 23 Miami-Dade ICP meeting agenda were discussed last week at the entity’s first meeting of 2024. The third case will be discussed at its Feb. 27 meeting at the Joseph Caleb Center in Liberty City.

“We’re looking at these individual investigations in order to understand the system of accountability within the police department and identify ways [to] improve upon it,” said ICP executive director Ursula Price during the meeting.

The ICP was established in 2020 to investigate or review allegations of police misconduct of Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) officers and use-of-force incidents resulting in great bodily harm or death, and closed MDPD Internal Affairs files. Its formation came on the heels of national demand for police accountability and reform, 11 years after the county’s original Independent Review Panel had been dismantled.

“We’re back now because of you, members of the community, urging your representatives to reinstitute this body,” said Loreal Arscott, who chairs ICP’s board. “We’re going to do the work that you wanted us to do. We’ve been laying the foundation brick by brick … We’re finally hearing cases.”

ICP case 2023-0004 involves two MDPD officers whom the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine in 2020, following a DEA investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel. Then MDPD officers Roderick Flowers and Keith Edwards accepted $5,000 in cash each from undercover police officers posing as Mexican drug cartel dealers to escort a vehicle carrying 10 kilograms of cocaine from Homestead to Aventura.

“The DEA caught these officers both misusing a police database to look up information on behalf of the cartel and escorting a shipment of what they believed was cocaine on behalf of the cartel,” Price explained.

Though the investigation concluded and the officers were terminated from MDPD, the ICP says bringing the contents of the case to light could prevent future incidents of database misuse.

“The ICP wondered what further work had been done to make sure that there were no other instances in which these databases had been misused,” Price added. “Officers have to name that they are using it for law enforcement purposes but are not required to provide any other information to validate that search. So the assumption is we’re defaulting to trust with the officers.”

ICP members say they want to work with MDPD to examine ways to internally audit its systems to ensure they’re being used for the right reasons and to require additional information, such as a number or code associated with a police report or field interview, regarding the purposes of database usage.

The second police misconduct case discussed centered around a complaint filed with MDPD’s Professional Compliance Bureau, alleging money was stolen from a man apprehended by plainclothes officers in 2021.

According to the complaint, Price said, the man had $150 on him at the time of the arrest but was returned only $57 after his release. He also informed the PCB of fraudulent activity on his credit card with purchases made within the same area of his arrest. Only one of the five police officers involved in the arrest had his body camera turned on at the time.

The PCB investigation concluded that the allegations were unsustained.

ICP members recommended that MDPD supervisors counsel the officers who hadn’t activated their bodycams on using them properly and allow investigators to play a more active role in assessing the credibility of police personnel statements during investigations following an incident.

The third case involves complaints against an MDPD officer who allegedly followed two people into a McDonald’s restroom while questioning them, then reportedly slammed one person against the wall before releasing both without further incident. Four or five other officers who were present during the incident, according to the complaint, laughed during the ordeal.

Price said the ICP recently received video evidence that had to be reviewed prior to the case being presented to the public, pushing it to next month’s agenda.

Arscott says the panel, whose progress in the past has been stalled for various reasons including the hiring of an executive director, now faces the threat of being eliminated just as its work is getting started.

A senate committee voted 5-2 last week in favor of a measure to ban local review boards that investigate law enforcement, calling them divisive and an attempt to second-guess internal probes and attack officers for public embarrassment.

“It’s very important that y’all follow these two bills,” said Arscott, urging the public to support the ICP’s existence. “We can only do so much. We need you, the members of the coalition, the members of the community, to talk to your lawmakers.”

This piece was republished from the Miami Times Online.