Sep 6, 2007 12:08 am US/Eastern
Embattled Miami Police Chief Gets Support
dl
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
-
-
Timoney was joined by business leaders and the mayor, all who support him.
CBS News
One day after member's of Miami's police union voted 'no confidence' in their Chief, supporters had breakfast with John Timoney at a Brickell restaurant.
Among the supporters were prominent business owners who say Timoney has significantly lowered crime and brought order to their neighborhoods. Long-time supporter Mayor Manny Diaz was also on hand. Timoney himself donwplayed the Tuesday's vote.
"The votes of no confidence are a common ploy by police unions all across America," said Timoney. "It's happened as far away as New York, Seattle, Boston, a whole variety of places, so it's not uncommon at all."
The leadership abilities of Timoney and Assistant Chief Frank Fernandez were put to the test Tuesday as Miami's Fraternal Order of Police Union members cast their ballots in a 'no confidence' referendum. Out of 1,000 members, 650 votes were cast. 520 voted they had no confidence in Timoney and 125 voted that they had confidence in him. 548 voted that they had no confidence in Fernandez and 97 voted that they had confidence.
Miami detective Armando Aguilar, president of the Miami FOP, said
CBS4's investigation into Timoney's free use of a luxury vehicle was just the tip of the iceberg. Aguilar has accused Timoney of permitting 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 during a news conference on Friday.
The union produced police reports and dispatch logs that support the claim that crime stats 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 when he called for an independent probe into the union's allegations.
"I'm going to request an outside agency to come in and do an independent audit of how we track our crime statistics," said Timoney.
He says a perception has been created that he got something for free in the SUV deal.
"I kept that vehicle for too long, because there's a perception that's been created that somehow I was getting something for nothing," said Timoney.
The officers' union didn't agree that the issue with the Lexus is only about perception.
"He not only accepted the gift but failed to report it and was untruthful when first questioned about it. These are severe violations to our departmental orders," said FOP President Armando Aguilar.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
