The FBI concluded its audit of the City Of Miami Police Department's incident crime reports on behalf of the FDLE, and the Miami Police Chief John Timoney said on Wednesday the audit showed the department acted properly.
Timoney said in the lobby of police headquarters, "Out of the 1033 cases, they found 1028 – or 99.52 percent – we handled properly."
The police union responded that the FBI audit could look at crime statistics, but it could not differentiate between an accurate or inaccurate one, according to Det. Armando Aguilar.
CBS4 Gary Nelson learned the state law enforcement's own investigation into the crime statistics produced by the police department is still ongoing, according to spokesperson Heather Smith.
She said, "We are still conducting a criminal investigation into allegations regarding the Miami Police Department's crime reporting procedures."
The FDLE refuses to comment on the FBI audit and what it does or doesn't mean to the criminal investigation.
In an earlier report by CBS4 Gary Nelson, The President of the Miami FOP, Det. Aguilar, said Timoney permitted crime statistics to be altered to reflect a lower crime rate.
"A burglary changed to a theft, another assault changed to a disturbance, another assault changed to a disturbance, a robbery changed to a theft," said Aguilar.
The union produced police reports and dispatch logs that support the claim that crime stat have been doctored under orders from commanders who are under intense pressure to present a rosier picture no matter what.
Timoney called the charges "pretty serious" and fired a preemptive strike calling for an independent probe into the union's allegations.
In separate move earlier this month, Florida's Commission on Ethics met behind closed doors, and found probable cause that Miami Police Chief John Timoney broke the law by accepting free use of a Lexus luxury car and failing to report it.
On the audio tape of the ethics commission's closed hearing, commissioners were heard laughing over Timoney's argument that accepting the Lexus didn't amount to accepting a gift.
In Tallahassee, Assistant Attorney General James Peterson, who is a prosecutor on the ethics commission, said at the meeting, "Clearly, the free use of a car for a year, plus insurance, is a 'gift' under our code, and that's the reason for my recommendation."
The ethics prosecutor wants the police chief to admit to violating the law, something Timoney refused to do when the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission took him to task earlier this year.
Judge Seymour Gelber, a member of the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission, on January 31st said, "He denies any wrongdoing whatsoever, and I think it's important for us to rebut that."
The county ethics commission issued a scathing letter of reprimand, saying Timoney's denial was "not only disingenuous, but illogical and without merit."
Now the state ethics commission - a much more powerful body - is being asked to insist that the police chief acknowledge wrong-doing.
Assistant Attorney General Peterson said in the closed hearing, "In his settlement with Dade County, he does not take responsibility. All he does is say these are hyper-technical things, or something to that extent. And I think that he needs to accept his responsibility and admit to a violation."
Today, Timoney's attorney, Miguel Diaz De La Portilla, wouldn't say if that's something the chief is willing to do.
"I'm representing my client, and we're in the process of talking to the ethics commission, and that's exactly where the conversations will take place," he told CBS4 Gary Nelson.
There is some good news out of Tallahassee for Miami's police chief, the ethics commission prosecutor said he does not intend to pursue a "big" fine against Timoney.
The commission has the authority, if it chooses, to impose fines up to $10,000 per violation.
Earlier this month, Florida's Commission on Ethics met behind closed doors, and found probable cause that Miami Police Chief John Timoney broke the law by accepting free use of a Lexus luxury car and failing to report it.On the audio tape of the ethics commission's closed hearing, 