May 29, 2009 6:40 pm US/Eastern
Chief Timoney Denies Rumors Of Job Search
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Police Chief John Timoney took a while but finally got his position straight Friday in response to rumors that he is looking to bail from Miami. He says he isn't.
The city hall and police department rumor mills have been buzzing that Timoney applied for the position of police chief in San Francisco. San Francisco is looking for a new top cop, and the list of applicants there is confidential by law. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom will pick a new chief from a slate of finalists selected by the city's police commission. A decision is expected as early as next week.
When asked about the rumor that he was in the San Francisco running, Timoney would not deny it Friday morning.
"The chief says he has no comment," Timoney's senior executive assistant, Delrish Moss, told
CBS4 News. "It is not a denial, it is not an admission, it is a no comment," Moss quoted Timoney as saying.
The rumor and Timoney's equivocal response to it was reported on
CBS4 News at Noon Friday. Within three hours of the broadcast, Timoney issued a written statement denying interest in the San Francisco post. "I enjoy living and working in this wonderful city and I have no plans to go anywhere!" the chief exclaimed in his statement. The statement also listed some of Timoney's accomplishments as Miami's chief, including a reduction in police involved shootings and a lower overall crime rate.
Timoney's spokesman, Moss, said he could not explain why the chief no-commented the job search rumor Friday morning, only to flatly deny it hours later.
Some in Miami city hall say a job hunt is probably in the police chief's future one way or the other. Timoney will lose his most powerful supporter this fall when Mayor Manny Diaz leaves office. Diaz brought Timoney to Miami in 2003, and has steadfastly supported the chief through good times and bad. There have been some bad times:
A CBS4 News investigation in 2007 revealed that Timoney had accepted free use of a luxury automobile. Timoney, who first denied getting the Lexus SUV for free, later admitted to "test driving" it for about a year, compliments of the dealer. The Miami-Dade County and Florida commissons on ethics fined and reprimanded Timoney for violating ethics laws. Miami's Civilian investigative panel concluded that the police chief broke state and county laws, and his own department's policies in the "Lexusgate" affair.
Civil rights groups and labor organizations have criticized Timoney's handling of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas Summit in Miami where police pepper sprayed and fired rubber bullets at peaceful protestors, including elderly retirees and professionals in business attire. The city is now defending itself against numerous lawsuits alleging that polilce committed unlawful abuses during the FTAA.
In 2007, an 85% majority of Miami's police officers voted "no confidence" in Timoney's administration.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating allegations that Timoney's department has misrepresented crime statistics in order to make the crime picture in the city appear better than it actually is. Timoney has adamantly denied the allegations.
Miami city commissioner Tomas Regalado, a vocal Timoney critic and candidate for Mayor, said Friday that Timoney's job won't be safe after November's election. "It doesn't matter whether I'm elected Mayor or someone else is," Regalado said. "The new Mayor is going to want a new management team at the police department."
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