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Nov 11, 2009 7:34 pm US/Eastern
DeFede: Timoney Was His Own Worst Enemy
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
When John Timoney showed up for work in Miami in 2003, he inherited a department plagued by scandals.
"My job is to look at everything," he said at the time.
A frequent guest on the cable news shows, Timoney raised the department's profile, offering a fresh face for a department viewed with disdain. And many in the community loved the no-nonsense image of this tough Irish cop from New York. But Timoney had his critics and the chief often proved to be his own worst enemy.
There was the department's heavy -handed response to the protesters who showed up for the Free Trade of the Americas conference.
Ninety eight percent of those arrested ended up having their charges dismissed. Seniors citizens and union workers complained about being tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets
Timoney also often battled rank and file officers as well as their union. There was a vote of no confidence in 2008 and a survey that found incredibly low morale.
Timoney also faced allegations he manipulated crime stats to make the city seem safer than it actually was. An investigation found there was no deliberate scheme, but there were significant problems with the department's crime stats.
And then there was that free Lexus.
After
CBS4 News exposed that Timoney was given a free car, the chief lied about it -- trying to kill the story by saying he was leasing it. The furor grew because Timoney never accepted responsibility.
"It is clear to me in retrospect I kept that vehicle too long because there is a perception that has been created that I got something for nothing," Timoney said.
In fact it was more than perception. And he was slammed by both the county and state ethics commissions and the civilian investigative panel.
Now his term is done and no one should be surprised. Timoney himself said it best on his very first day on the job back in 2003.
"Sometimes people leave at the end or the beginning of a new administration," he said. "And that's fine."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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