Miami-Dade civilian police oversight panel clears initial County Commission vote

A proposal to revive a civilian oversight panel for the Miami-Dade police department passed an initial vote Tuesday, a measure that has received renewed interest on the heels of nationwide calls for law enforcement reform following the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.

The vote was one step toward reestablishing civilian oversight of the largest police force in the southeastern U.S. The proposal would create an Independent Civilian Panel where people could file complaints against Miami-Dade police officers, allow county staff to investigate claims and fund the panel’s work with at least $7.59 million.

That minimum funding level is equal to 1% of the police department’s budget, but would not necessarily come from the police budget.

Several leaders in Miami-Dade’s Black communities, as well as protesters who have demonstrated in the streets for two weeks since Floyd’s killing, have demanded a range of reforms that include more police oversight and accountability. On June 3, the county’s Black Affairs Advisory Board formally urged Miami-Dade to establish a civilian panel, pledging to act as its own review board if the county did not act.

On Tuesday, the plan cleared one hurdle. Proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan, the panel passed the first of two readings on a 9-4 vote — enough to override a veto by Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who vetoed a slightly different proposal for a panel in 2018, if that count holds for the final vote.

Jordan was joined by Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava, Xavier Suarez, Sally Heyman, Eileen Higgins, Jean Monestime, Dennis Moss, Audrey Edmonson and Rebeca Sosa, who said she was a “yes, for now.” Commissioners Esteban “Steve” Bovo, Javier Souto, Joe Martinez and Jose “Pepe” Díaz voted no.

Before the vote, Díaz raised the concern about the panel’s funding mechanism, saying that it was added to the proposal Monday and changed the substance of the item.

“They’re taking away $2 million-plus from the police department to fund this board,” Díaz said, complaining that the provision was added to the measure after it had been distributed.

Díaz echoed concerns from Steadman Stahl, president of Miami-Dade’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, who said he feared that the county was trying to defund the police department.

Díaz and Stahl have less to worry about than they think. Jordan emphasized that the legislation does not mandate a reallocation of police department funds. The measure sets the minimum funding level at 1% of the county police department’s budget but empowers the county mayor to identify the source of that funding.

“A point of clarification however because it’s been put out there that this item is taking money away from the police department, and it is not at all,” Jordan said. “I just wanted to clear that.”

The county launched its first civilian review panel months after the 1980 McDuffie riots, sparked by the acquittal of four county police officers in the beating death of a black insurance agent and former Marine. The oversight group lost its funding in 2009 during the budget crisis caused by the Great Recession.

Jordan attempted to resurrect the oversight group in 2018, but her measure was vetoed by Gimenez.

Gimenez said he opposed the proposed composition of the panel in 2018, which would have filled seats with representatives of outside groups including the county’s police chief association and the American Civil Liberties Union. The county mayor said he favored a board filled with appointments by commissioners.

The 2018 proposal passed on a 7-5 vote. Nine votes are required to override a mayoral veto.

Under the plan tentatively passed Tuesday, a committee made up of representatives of multiple citizen advisory boards would solicit applications, then provide each commissioner with two candidates from his or her district. The commission would make the final appointments.

The civilian panel would be staffed with investigators, a policy analyst and legal counsel from the county attorney’s office. The group would have no disciplinary power, and it would publish the results of its investigations, but its recommendations would not be binding. The panel would have authority to subpoena documents and any witnesses, unless laws prohibit them from being subpoenaed. Under state law, officers who are subject of a complaint cannot be subpoenaed.

During public comment, some people echoed police unions in questioning the wisdom of having civilians scrutinize police decisions. Many others lauded the proposal, touting it as a step toward creating more accountability for county police.

Following Floyd’s death, a national conversation about racism has fueled the Black Lives Matter movement and spurred a range of calls for police reform, from the dismantling and rebuilding of police departments to the redirecting of public funds from law enforcement to social programs meant to address the root causes of crime.

Reallocation of police funding would be vehemently opposed by the police union. On Monday, Stahl fired off a letter to commissioners saying the union’s more than 6,000 members opposed any attempt to “defund, reallocate funds, restructure or dismantle” the department.

Stahl said there had been a groundswell of attacks on police lately, both rhetorically and physically and that Miami-Dade police are “constantly being tasked to do more with less.”

Several community members who spoke in favor said they welcomed independent review of police misconduct allegations, and the civilian scrutiny should be seen as layer of accountability that can prevent future problems.

“We view this as an important first step in ensuring that police misconduct is adequately addressed,” said Kenneth Kilpatrick, president of the Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association. “Please know that our support is not punitive, but proactive and aimed at preventing the injustices that we have seen play out throughout the nation in recent times.”

Others broadly criticized the idea of “dismantling” the police, which was not on the agenda Tuesday.

Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.