Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega. Photo by George Barreiro. www.firedogphoto.com

Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega was sitting in his office conducting an interview with the SunPost last Thursday morning when Sgt. Robert Hernandez, the department’s public information officer, walked in. The door was open.

“Three cops shot down south. Cutler Ridge. AK-47. Possible Arab male, full beard,” Hernandez told Noriega.

Noriega — officially appointed to the top post only eight days earlier — calmly and immediately gave Hernandez the names of a few commanders and a set of instructions: “Have them reach out to county right away and see what resources they need from us.”

The chief sent a contingent of more than 30 MBPD officers, including canine and SWAT teams, to aid in a massive 12-hour manhunt after four Miami-Dade Police officers were caught in a spray of automatic gunfire. One was killed and another nearly lost her leg from a grapefruit-size bullet wound to the knee.

The suspect’s girlfriend lied about the shooter’s identity and sent police departments all over South Florida hunting for the wrong man. Kevin Wehner’s photo was plastered all over the frenzied TV and Internet news media for nearly four hours until he walked into a Jacksonville police station, declared that his wallet had been stolen and police were looking for the wrong guy.

Police eventually released the name and photo of another suspect, 25-year-old Shawn Sherwin Labeet. Then, shortly before midnight, police cornered Labeet north of the Miami-Dade County line. He died in a hail of bullets after allegedly refusing to put down his gun.

Noriega, who had been acting chief for five months following former Chief Don DeLucca’s April departure, was permanently sworn in as chief of police Sept. 5.

His promotion comes amid heated City Commission races, in which candidates promise to clean up the city, and at a time when police officers increasingly find themselves the targets of negative publicity and violence. For example, six South Florida law enforcement officers have been gunned down while on duty in the last month; two were killed and four were injured.

“When things like this happen you look at national trends, and there has been a national trend for more violence against police officers this year,” Noriega said. “It’s a reminder of what we face each and every day.”

Many cops blame such violence on the 2004 expiration of a federal assault weapons ban that outlawed guns like the Mak-90 assault rifle used by Labeet. On Wednesday, the International Association of Chiefs of Police called for the ban to be reinstated.

Embattled Miami Police Chief John Timoney had authorized his officers to carry assault rifles last week, even before Labeet’s rampage, if they pay for them out of their own pockets. According to the Miami Police Department, 15 of the 79 murders in the city last year involved assault weapons; this year 12 out of 60 have involved them.

Miami Beach officers, however, have been allowed to carry assault rifles for more than three years, and the majority of them do, according to Hernandez. But they, too, must purchase them with their own money.

“We try to stay ahead of the curve,” Hernandez said in a telephone interview days after the shooting. “These incidents bring to light something we have to do differently. Not only is a military rifle easier to aim [than a handgun], but it can penetrate a bulletproof vest.”

The Miami Beach Police Department doesn’t issue bulletproof vests, but encourages their use. Officers who buy their own are reimbursed by a special grant.

Union Support

Miami’s police problems dominated headlines even before the shooting, with reports that Chief Timoney drove around a free Lexus SUV without reporting it, followed by news of the union’s vote of no confidence in him and his assistant chief.

Unlike his counterpart, though, Noriega enjoys the full support of his officers, according to Bobby Jenkins, president of the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police.

Noriega attributes his popularity to a balance of firmness and fairness, family and work.

“I think with the union, with individuals, or with whoever it may be, whatever level of this police department, whatever assignment I’ve had in the past, I’ve treated everybody fairly and they understand that,” he said.

Through the Ranks

Since he began his service as a patrol officer in 1984, Noriega steadily climbed the ranks to nearly every position — he’s been a detective in numerous divisions, a sergeant, lieutenant, commander, district commander and a major. He was named assistant chief in March 2006.

“He came up through the ranks,” Jenkins said. “He’s strict but approachable.”

Born in Cuba, Noriega moved to South Beach as an infant in 1960 and eventually settled on Dilido Island. He graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1978.

Today, Noriega lives in Davie with his wife of 23 years, Sally, a trauma nurse; and their three children — Michael, a 22-year-old financial analyst with Citigroup; Michelle, a 17-year-old cheerleader; and Stephen, a 15-year-old wide receiver.

“I’ve seen many changes here,” Noriega said. “Things started changing during the Mariel Boat Lift in 1980. There were a lot more issues and problems. And I’ve seen Miami Beach bounce back and become one of the most dynamic cities in the world.”

Noriega plans to use his familiarity with the Miami Beach community to improve relations and teamwork between the police department and the public, as he has begun doing in North Beach.

“North Beach has really been, if you will, the trailblazers or pioneers of what we want to develop in all three districts,” he said. “They’ve actually taken every area of North Beach and created a homeowners association in each pocket.”

Police officers meet with those residents once a month to discuss issues and concerns. And Noriega has coordinated such external resources as the Multi-Agency Gang Task Force, the Crime Suppression Team and Strategic Investigations Unit to deal with “wannabe” gangs, robberies, burglaries and other quality of life issues there. Neighbors walk the streets and alert police to things like new graffiti, teenagers causing trouble, people dumping trash in alleys, drug dealing and other problems.

“They are patient with residents and they partner with residents in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding, and I find that tone comes from the top,” said Silvia Unzeta, president of the North Shore Homeowners Association. “I’m a very critical person, but am very encouraged by the leadership in the police force.”

Cleaning Up

In the last year, the high-profile arrests of professional athletes — the Heat’s James Posey, Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis and Florida Panthers’ Ed Belfour and Ville Peltonen — for driving while intoxicated and fighting have made national headlines and spurred talk that Miami Beach cops are too heavy-handed.

But some say they aren’t tough enough. Noriega and his department are now contending with added pressure as the political candidates vying for the four Miami Beach City Commission seats up for grabs in November spin rhetoric about eradicating homelessness and improving the “skid row” image of sections of Collins and Washington avenues.

The politicos and business owners argue that the unsightliness associated with homelessness — urine-stained drunks sprawled out on bus benches with all of their belongings, particularly between 15th Street and Lincoln Road — damages tourism and, thus, the local economy. According to the city’s Web site, South Beach is the No. 1 attraction in South Florida and the No. 2 attraction in the state, after Disney World.

Dealing with the homeless is a complex issue, Noriega said. Then he cited the 1996 Pottinger v. City of Miami case, in which a judge ruled that harassing the homeless violated the U.S. Constitution. Besides, he said, simply moving them elsewhere doesn’t solve the problem.

“If nothing happens after we get them off the streets, they’ll be back on the street within six to 12 hours,” Noriega said. “We need to get a comprehensive and holistic process in place that gets these people out of the homeless situation and back into being self-sustaining.”

The police department, along with the city’s Office of Community Services, already offers aid to people who want to get off the streets. The city estimates there are about 210 chronically homeless people living on the streets of Miami Beach, down from about 501 in February.

Finding a Beat

Many neighborhood activists and commission hopefuls have suggested that the department use beat cops to solve these problems. Noriega said he plans to have officers walking beats in city hot spots within the next few months. He also plans to put more officers in shopping and restaurant areas to deter crime during the holidays.

“I want people to feel safe and I think by seeing officers out there on beat details, I think it will go a long way towards sending the message that they should feel safe,” Noriega said.

Those officers, he said, must treat everyone with dignity and respect, even if they are only writing a traffic ticket, because they are the ambassadors of the city.

“We’ve all heard the story about the negative encounter with a police officer,” he said. “We don’t want to be that negative encounter.”