Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez. Photo by Richard M. Brooks

The city of Miami is stepping in to help solve the Miami Police Department’s staffing problems.

The department faces losing many of its 30-year veteran police officers to retirement, and because of attrition and pitiful new recruitment numbers, they are not being replaced. Although the Miami City Commission had expected the department to hire 100 new officers by now, in the last year, it has acquired only 26.

Citing a “recruitment crisis” and warning of bureaucratic red tape that could stall the process, Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez proffered another solution.

On Thursday, Gonzalez proposed extending the MPD’s Deferred Retirement Option Program by another three years. The initiative allows the city and county to hang on to their most experienced employees by lengthening the time (currently 48 months) before they must retire.

All that is needed to extend the DROP is a memorandum of understanding between the Fraternal Order of Police union and the city. The union is expected to vote on the matter. Although deferring officers’ retirement comes at an obvious cost — some of the department’s highest salaries will continue to be paid — department staff said the officers are usually not promoted during the extra years they spend on the force. However, keeping more seasoned cops around longer will inevitably keep younger officers lower on the totem pole when it comes to the perks of seniority.

Notwithstanding the added benefits for officers who stick around longer, the measure could save taxpayer dollars on overtime.

“The budget we had for overtime was $6 million; we had to adjust that budget to $10 million,” Gonzalez said. “This year, we have $6 million [spent on overtime] in the first three months.”

Gonzalez, anxious to take action on the police staffing problem, pledged to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get the initiative moving, adding that internal politics have bogged down negotiations with the Police Department in the past and that “games [are] being played.” He called for a memorandum of understanding to be drafted in the next 45 days “independently of any other matters” to avoid any years-long delays such as those that stalled the department’s most recent contract with the city.

“If you don’t think our system is broken, you haven’t looked at the system,” Commissioner Marc Sarnoff added in support of the measure.

Commissioners raised many questions, including why Gonzalez’s requests for information and crime statistics took so long to receive; why the city lost eight officers in January, nine in February and 31 in March; and other questions about the ongoing melee between Police Chief John Timoney and the union, indicating the commission has taken a greater interest in the department’s internal problems.

The city should be paying attention. The most recent crime statistics released in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Uniform Crime Report early this month show an overall 4.1 percent increase in crime in Miami in 2007.

The numbers are especially unsettling for a city that had reported decreases in crime over the last several years, including an 11 percent drop in 2006 from the previous year and significant declines in burglary and larceny theft.

However, notable increases occurred last year — robberies spiked 20 percent in 2007, burglaries increased by almost 9 percent and larceny increased 4 percent. Although rape was cut almost in half, decreasing by 44 percent, the city’s murder and motor vehicle theft rates remained virtually unchanged, with 78 murders in the city — just one more than in 2006. Aggravated assault showed a 5 percent decrease.

The FDLE also reported there were 1 percent fewer arrests in Miami — 37,373 — and a 1 percent drop in the number of cases cleared.

In comparison, Tampa, the Florida city closest in population size to Miami’s 395,434 residents, experienced a 10 percent drop in overall crime last year, even though there was a 3 percent increase in overall crime statewide.

Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones also warned of a continued economic downturn, and with it increased poverty, which may contribute to increases in crime.

The Miami Police Department is still under investigation by the FDLE and FBI for allegations that he or those under Timoney’s command instructed officers to fudge the city’s crime statistics.

Although the agencies investigating the allegations have yet to release their findings, a number of Miami Police officers posted comments to a popular police message board, accusing higher-ranked officers of instructing rank and file cops to misreport criminal incidents to which they were dispatched in the hopes of underreporting the severity of the incidents.

The anonymous posters alleged that the calls were ultimately classified as less serious offenses than they actually were to make the city’s crime rates look better and secure commendations and promotions for higher-ups.

So, last year, the SunPost requested from the Miami Police Department dozens of reports for the incidents that experienced call changes. A call change occurs when an incident is reported to the police or 911, but the responding officer reclassifies the incident. Ultimately, only five reports were provided. The department said the other requested reports did not exist.

Weeks later, Fraternal Order of Police Union President Armando Aguilar, shortly after spearheading a widely publicized union vote of no confidence in Timoney and his Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez, filed a formal complaint with the city’s Civilian Investigative Panel, the city agency charged with investigating police misconduct. Aguilar has echoed the officers’ allegations that they were instructed to cook the books.

But Timoney has continued to skirt a court order subpoenaing him to testify before the CIP complaint subcommittee about the charges, claiming the agency has no jurisdiction over him.

Comments? E-mail angie@miamisunpost.com