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Oct 30, 2009 7:29 pm US/Eastern
Miami-Dade Police Director Parker To Retire
MAIMI (CBS4) ―
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Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker holds a news conference on Wednesday Nov. 28th
CBS
Miami-Dade police director Robert Parker, leader of the largest police department in the Southeast, will leave his post effective this weekend.
In a memo to County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Parker said he was concerned about impending cuts in the Miami-Dade budget that could affect salaries, and ultimately, the amount of retirement pay they would receive.
Parker has been a member of the department since 1976, and director since April 1, 2004. His resignation date is effective November 1st.
"I apologize for the short notice of this action; however the immediacy outcomes and applications are obviously related in some ways to the current and ongoing 2009-10 budget adoption and implementation process," Parker wrote in his
resignation letter. "Also unavoidable are some forms of negative fiscal implications and benefit reductions to everyone. I hope to mitigate the brunt of my negative financial impacts and implications or avoid the most impacting of them now as I now retire."
Parker leads the 8th largest police department in the nation with a budget of over $548 million, and a staff of 4,700.
Unlike most county-wide law enforcement agencies in Florida, the Miami-Dade police department is not led by an elected sheriff. Parker, as the county chief, is appointed by the Miami-Dade Mayor Alvarez.
Alvarez reacted to Parker's resignation by issuing a
memo in which he named assistant director James K. Loftus as the interim director of Miami-Dade Police. Alvarez will later make a permanent appointment.
"Director Parker is my friend and I know you join me in congratulating him and wishing him the very best as he moves on to the next chapter of his life," Alvarez wrote.
Loftus is a 26-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department. He is married and has two children ages 8 and 10. He is originally from Pittsburgh and lives in Miami-Dade County, according to his resume.
Word of Parker's decision came just hours after
Alvarez announced a 5% pay cut for all non-union and management employees, effective immediately.
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