MIAMI — Miami Shores has asked the state of Florida to review allegations made by a former employee who says the village’s police department fostered an atmosphere where officers were not held accountable for racial insensitivity or other misconduct.
In a statement, Village Manager Esmond Scott wrote late Wednesday that the village has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look into allegations made in a letter this week “by a former employee about the working environment in our police department.” He said Miami Shores is also “beginning an investigative inquiry, using outside parties” of its policies and procedures.
Scott issued his statement after The Miami Herald starting asking questions about a report provided to the newspaper by an anonymous tipster.
The allegations were made in a signed letter that names the author as former Lt. James Somohano, a 36-year law enforcement veteran. Somohano submitted a letter announcing his intent to retire in July, citing “very unfortunate and immediate family health circumstances.”
“My commitment to my family is one that I believe you and the village would agree is the most important priority to tend to at this moment,” he wrote. He requested to leave the department on Sept. 29.
The more recent 54-page report, submitted earlier this week and provided to the Herald by the village clerk, raises allegations about racial insensitivity and details broader issues like work ethic among officers. It also discusses incidents where the author alleges officers violated department policy by conducting outside business during work hours, giving false statements and lying to residents.
Brian Andrews, a crisis communications consultant hired by the village, told the Herald Thursday that the village has not confirmed that the letter was in fact sent by Somohano.
In the document, the author alleges the department fostered a “deeply rooted culture of indifference to race” that is “devoid of accountability.”
The writer complained of an officer who allegedly made up official departmental correspondence and falsified a police report. He wrote that another officer let a driver who was under the influence go home after a crash, discarding car parts in a nearby trash bin and giving a false statement about the incident to investigators. There were other allegations of violations of department policy, too, like an officer who taught driving lessons at Miami-Dade College while he was on the clock, a lieutenant who frequently left work early when the chief wasn’t around and an officer who had been asleep during burglaries in the village’s west side.
At times, according to the report, a dispatcher would have to call into the room at the police station where supervisors and officers gathered during shifts, because the officers were not listening to their police radios. Sometimes, supervisors walked the halls without their police belts or radios on.
“This is a practice that the agency absolutely did not want the public to be aware of,” the author wrote.
The letter also cited examples of racial insensitivity in the department, like the disproportionate number of suspicious person calls police responded to, despite little information other than the person’s race. It brought up racially insensitive comments made at council meetings with regard to crime rates, and took issue with how complaints were handled after Black residents said they were being followed by police or when a Black man was detained while standing in his driveway, waiting for an UberEats delivery.
“There exists an absence of conscientiousness in the agency as it relates to issues of racial sensitivity,” the author wrote.
The village, which according to U.S. Census data is about 15% Black and 70% white, recently had a historic election, where three political newcomers were elected to the first majority-Black council with the second Black mayor in its 89-year history.
The highly detailed report was sent to a long list of state and federal agencies, as well as local, county, state and federal elected officials and national advocacy groups such as the ACLU, NAACP and Black Lives Matter’s South Florida Chapter.
Among those who received the report is former mayor and current council member Crystal Wagar, who was the village’s first Black mayor.
“It’s always concerning to hear these things,” she told the Herald. “I’m very disappointed, but not surprised.”
After complaints of racial prejudice were sent to the chief and Wagar, Somohano was told to “leave it alone” and not investigate or submit findings, according to the letter.
Wagar, who told the Herald she was among several members of village staff and leadership who received the report directly from Somohano, said she was often disappointed with the former village manager and police chief’s responses to her requests for increased transparency and oversight. She often inquired about body cameras for police officers, extra training and outside audits of the department, she said. When she contacted the department on behalf of residents, the responses from the department “weren’t highly regarded.”
With a new manager, she said she is “optimistic” some of her concerns will be addressed.
Scott, hired just a few months ago as village manager, wrote in his statement that the village was not aware of the document until it was delivered on Oct. 25, and that he takes “all complaints seriously.”
“I know that we owe it to our residents to determine the veracity of these allegations,” he wrote.
