Miami Police Department Policies Should Be More Than Window Dressing
Why would a police department develop a policy and then not distribute it? Good question. An offered answer came from internal affairs…
Accidents happen.
They happen because a series of factors are just right for an unintended event to happen. Example: a wet road, a faulty traffic light, and a tired driver can lead to
at traffic accident. How bad that accident is also depends on various conditions. Not all accidents are avoidable, either.
And that is the question regarding the death of Susana Gutierrez.
A longtime City of Miami employee, Gutierrez went riding with her boss, Community Redevelopment Agency Director Frank Rollason, on May 30th when the horse
she was riding suddenly galloped at full hilt. Although she rode horses from time to time, Gutierrez could not regain control, fell and did not regain consciousness.
The horse Gutierrez was riding belonged to the City of Miami Police Department. According to an administrative internal affairs probe, there was a policy allowing
only a select group of police officers to ride these horses. For some reason, though, this policy was never distributed.
Why would a police department develop a policy and then not distribute it? Good question. An offered answer came from internal affairs: it was a nice memo to get the
department accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).
Last December Raul Martinez, Miami’s previous police chief, authored what became known as the “Redline Memo,” which listed who was allowed to “operate City of Miami
vehicles and horses.” The memo was never distributed. It was written, according to the internal affairs report, “to meet CALEA requirements.”
Because the “Redline Memo” was never distributed, Lt. Norberto Blanco, didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to invite Rollason, a horse enthusiast, to ride in Tropical Park.
Rollason didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to accept said invitation and invite Gutierrez along. After all, high-ranking city officials like former Mayor Joe Carollo, former City Manager
Carlos Jimenez and Commissioner Joe Sanchez rode horses during special events. “If I heard we were not allowed to do it, we wouldn’t have done it,” Rollason told the SunPost last week.
Ironically, the Miami Police Department received accreditation this year from the CALEA. It isn’t likely the “Redline Memo” authored for just such an accreditation was
the decisive document. But it does beg the question—are there other policies developed under Raul Martinez that were just drafted just to gain CALEA accreditation?
The internal affairs report examining Gutierrez’s death opined that no one other than mounted personnel should be allowed to ride police horses. “This policy should be
immediately enacted and promulgated to avoid further question or confusion,” the report stated.
Clarifying the policy and finally circulating it might not be enough. The police department should make sure that any other policies and reports used for accreditation
purposes be circulated and enforced. If this means an accreditation review, then so be it.
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