Miami Police Union VP Fires Back After Controversial Email Exposed

April 29, 2011 11:45 PM

Filed under

Local, News

MIAMI (CBS4) – A Miami police union leader is defiant and defending a controversial email. Javier Ortiz admits to sending an altered mug shot to his colleagues. Now he’s getting criticized for it.

CBS4 News learned about the email at Thursday’s City of Miami commission meeting, where at least one commissioner expressed his anger.

It was two weeks ago when police were searching for 24-year-old Durrall Miller, accused of firing shots at two Miami-Dade police officers in Southwest Miami-Dade, hitting one in the foot.

Police found him on April 19th and shot him dead in Miami Gardens because, they say, Miller threatened to shoot police.

The very next day, Ortiz sent out an email with an altered photo of suspect Durrall Miller.

“With some red devil eyes and demon sharp teeth,” said Miami Commissioner Richard Dunn, who is outraged over the photo.

Commissioner Dunn says the shooting appears to have been justified, but calls the e-mail racist.

“That is what we do not need in the City of Miami,” said Dunn.

“That is something that I did send,” said Ortiz.

CBS4 News caught up with Ortiz on Friday. He’s also a City of Miami police officer.

“I stand by what I did,” he responded when CBS4′s Gio Benitez asked if he felt it was professional to send that out.

“That email was sent to our membership. That was not to be leaked out to the public,” said Ortiz.

“Mr. Ortiz, that is the most racist thing I’ve seen in my life. If you sent that out, shame on you,” said Commissioner Dunn.

“Absolutely no regret. This has nothing to do with race. This has to do with the fact that this is somebody that shot at two Miami-Dade police officers. This has nothing to do with race,” said Ortiz.

Commissioner Dunn says black police officers sent him the email, concerned that it makes the City of Miami Police Department appear racist.

Ortiz denies that claim and had a message for Commissioner Dunn.

“You know, Commissioner, when Amanda Haworth and Roger Castillo were killed, I didn’t hear you outraged,” said Ortiz.

Miami Police Union VP Fires Back After Controversial Email Exposed

Unacceptable Behavior

That is horrible! There is absolutely no need for such behavior.

GAIN AND AGEIN

TRUE,

Commissioner DUNN is a RACIST person, with TOO many allies/faces.

What is GOOD FOR THE GOOSE is not always GOOD FOR THE GANDER?!?!

Dunn is always calling on the PRESS for his TACTICS, he is NO REVEREND.

I say. get the so-called BIASED/RACIST Commissioner OUT OF OFFICE, soon.

HE HAS no respect FOR ANYONE, & ONLY listens to his OWN Chosen ‘FOLKS.”…

He & His LEADERSHIP is a SHAM!

A MAN of God does not ACT THAT WAY!
Aaron

To all those who have commented or read this, I pose a question: How would YOU feel if about someone made RACIST photo shopped images of your child the very next day after he was murdered? How would YOU feel if the person who circulated the image was FRIENDS with the guy who murdered your son?
Max Diaz

Imagine if some of us who can see would instead be blind? How then would this impact our interpersonal skills. LUKE 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Everyone needs to love Jesus Christ and his neighbor as himself in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter how much we’ve been hurt by someone, we must forgive them and not use our mouth to bring down the person. Then, you will see a river full of blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why today, you see people committing crimes of all sorts as a result of these two principles being ignored. So lets use or mouth to edify “all” and any person that can breathe under this Earth so that then we can start to see our beautiful community heading in the right direction. Very easy, LOVE, LOVE,LOVE AND CONTINUE TO LOVE until the day that you leave Earth and hopefully be with Jesus. I love Miami and have faith that we will see Jesus’s Warriors representing and impacting all departments of our local govt- Police, FIrefighters, Mayor’s, Commissioners and so forth. Lets go Miami , and bring on the heat because I know It all starts with “making the decision.”

Harry

Go Sgt. Speak the truth. Dunn is a racist and hates cops
tiredofcorruption

Who’s running the Police Department in the City of Miami? Appears a Gold Shield can go on public TV and brag about such behavior without consequences. If a citizen did the same thing to a sworn officer they would be in jail or dead within a few hours. Esposito has no control over this department and an officer with this kine of attitude should be seeing a Psychiatrist immediately. He is not fit for duty anywhere. Unfortunately a great many citizens are going to back him claiming freedom of speech. A sworn officer does not have this luxury. His state of mind would be in question every time he hit the streets. Inflammatory gestures like this may be tolerated in a Castro regime but not in the United States of America. Trusting this officer with a badge and a gun is a slap in the face of any American citizen no matter their race.

tiredofcorruption

RE:cbslocal-you gotta know where you can stick your moderation! Just printing this racist gesture is inflammatory! Can’t seem to shake the feeling this community likes and condones this.

Sickandtired

He’s a union guy so he can. Dunn will be gone soon.
ACLU and Proud

How long are police officers going to keep harping on the deaths of the two Miami Dade cops? Yeah it was a tragedy for their families, but.. it’s still 8-2. Besides, no one has forgotten the massive traffic tie up they did for the show of force funeral. It’s as if EVERY single bartender in Florida attended the funeral of one even though they never met the guy…

This Exposito clown needs to go! He thinks he’s still back in Cuba and working for Fidel, with his disrespect of Civil Rights and his random checkpoints all over Miami. Someone find some dirt and get rid of this guy once and for all. Fire all these thugs like Sarge here. To think these same morons wanted us to pay higher taxes to support their union and extravagant pensions………

denis

t he ACLU is a communist org and anti american at that.Americans need to rise up against this org.and shut them down.

Richard

If this not racism, I want to know the word that will define such act better,and this fake police officer is so arrogant and feel so proud for what he has done. Miami has a large majority of hispanics but there’s no need for them to think they can shoot any african american in their passage. I hope that this administration wont pass any immigration reform,if not hispanics will be worst than these white kk in the south in the 1960. how this stupid …. can be a cop???
Dudu brown

Exterminate all of those Bad
Guys! Go Miami cops!!!
Peter

and it’s a fact as well that the less educate people in america are hispanics, explaining the reason why they think the’re better than anybody else, unfortunately we do need them for the agriculture and for reproduction purposes, gwowing the government deficit at a crazy rate. hopefully a republican is going to be in power soon, so they can start shooting their but!
maxi

I’m a proud Cuban and looking to join the Police brotherhood. The difference is you are not and will probably never become a law enforcement officer. Don’t be angry for something you wish for and have not accomplished. Join the fight to save our streets and be proactive instead of finger pointing. All these officers risks their lives on a daily basis to keep you and me safe. The times of blacks siting in back of the bus is goneeeeee… Please, focus on today and stop using the racist excuse because it does not make any sense. Personally speaking, Cubans who were a criticized back in the 80′s, no longer complain about being victims of prejudice. Why can’t the black community take the same approach. We need to forget about racism, it it no longer an excuse to vent of you frustrations. Focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and lets all “together” try to win and resist the enemy, Satan. Love you all . Amen…

harford

maxi, im a black guy and you are completely right…we all need to work together…people dont understand that we are dealing with spiritual warfare…the enemy is winning…it’s not about black,white, hispanic ,its about loving how jesus loved us…god bless you maxi

lexy

great to see the union fighting back against the corrupt commissioner.
Rita Lambert

What amazes me is that Dunn really thinks that people respect him. If he only knew that he is the laughing stock of district five. The guys and girls protecting the streets are the ones with cojones. Dunn acts like he has the right to talk down to police officers when he is a thief himself.
jorge

where is the racism in this picture , maybe im missing something here ????
S.L.

I was at food by the pound 1 day after Obama won the presidential election
The store at S.W. 104 Street and 147th Avenue. two older gentlemen who apparentely own the store or worked there sitting at the table and commented In spanish don’t tell me blacks are going to run this country now.
If that wa not racism, what Is?
The cubans actually believe that they are white, Here In the united States of America, the definition of being white Is your parents and ancestors were all from european countries.the only spanish speaking country that qualified as being white Is Spain. I mean the real spaniard before hispanics from other spanish speaking countries went to spain to live and had children.
The pure spaniard Is an endangered species.
JT

Dunn is a complete piece of garbage and a racial McCarthyist as well. Miller fully deserved his fate. Good job Javi.
gladiatorgal

PEOPLE’S TRUE COLORS ARE COMING OUT HERE…. WOW! RACISTS PEOPLE ARE JUST IGNORANT AND CLOSED-MINDED. SOME PEOPLE HERE ARE A BUNCH OF LOW LIFES.

THIS OFFICER’S ACTIONS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM, AT ALL! ANY PERSON WHO IS WILLING TO SHOOT AT ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE OF THEIR CRIMINAL LIFESTYLE OR SELF PLEASURE IS LIKE A DEVIL AND DESERVES THE SAME IN RETURN. WHETHER YOU ARE WHITE, ASIAN, LATIN, EUROPEAN, BLACK, BROWN OR AN ALIEN FROM OUTERSPACE. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO SHOOT AT ANY CITIZEN OR CIVILIAN, MUCH LESS AN OFFICER. I THINK WE SHOULD DRAW DEVIL FACES ON ALL CRIMINALS. THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE, EVIL MINDED ENTITIES WHO HAVE NO CARE FOR HUMAN LIVES. GOOD JOB ORTIZ AND WHOEVER ELSE HELPED IN CAPTURING THIS DEMON.

IF YOU DO SOME RESEARCH, YOU’LL REALIZE THAT A CUBAN IS A MIXTURE OF SPANIARD AND AFRICAN. AND THOSE ARE THE LEAST RACISTS THAN THE CUBANS OF MAINLY SPANIARD ONLY HERITAGE.
REAL SPANIARDS ARE THE MOST RACISTS LATIN SPEAKING EUROPEANS EVER. TRY GOING TO SPAIN TO LIVE THERE, EVEN IF YOU ARE WHITE, THEY DISCRIMINATE AND ISOLATE YOU LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS. ESPECIALLY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, THEY WILL DENY YOU ANY HELP TO BECOME A RESIDENT OR WORK PERMITS OR VISA. THEY DONT WANT ANYONE MIXING WITH THEIR KIND.

gladiatorgal

MAYBE IF PEOPLE START TREATING ONE ANOTHER WITH RESPECT IN THIS SOCIETY, THEY WILL GET THE SAME IN RETURN. BUT NOT CRIMINALS….
Aaron

I’m assuming you are older, thankfully you’re generation is on it’s way out soon. You will hopefully learn that the way you define criminal is determined by a corrupt and truly criminal system. Do you even know that this guy fired at the cop for sure? How? Because you believe anything the cops tell you, you’re a brainwashed stooge. Furthermore, consider the fact that cops have been murdering unarmed black people in Miami, we hear about it all the time! How do you know that it wasn’t out of self defense if it was actually him who shot at the cops? You automatically assume the black man living below the poverty belt is a criminal because you are programmed to be racist.

EL CUBACHON

Richard Dunn Get A LIFE!!! The one sounding racist here is you!!!
captainmidnight

@Patrick,
You should seek help for your mental problems immediately.
Julie Lee

Where is the racism??????
Though this is not very professional, I must be missing something, I dont see anything racist about this, Do we really believe that this mans color is what caused this picture to be altered? Please
And if this is the worst form of racism mr. Dunn has ever seen (as he stated in the video) then he is a very sheltered man. You want to see racism mr.Dunn, go sit in a broward county courtroom.
You cant overuse the color card or you wont have it when you need it!
krigah

These gutless commissioners with their ridiculously high salaries would never have the courage to be policemen. It’s so easy for them to attack and criticize and use the race card asap. One more scumbag is gone from this earth where he cannot harm innocent people anymore. The officer meant no harm, but he and any who work in government must not send out these emails in government computers, it is a foollish thing to do and will only result in this kind of trouble. Naturally,we are supposed to have the “freedom of speech” and of expression but it is quite obvious we do not. Now, let the KKK hold a rally and there will be police officers there, sent by city commissioners, to defend their right to free speech. GO FIGURE
fools

DUNN IS SO FULL OF B.S.THAT THOSE WHO VOTE FOR HIM ON ACCOUNT THAT HE IS BLACK NEED TO RETHINK IT NEXT>
More to Story

There is alot more to this story than the media knows about the actual case and not the altered photo part. Police have not released it to the media. I do not agree with the altered photo but I could see why the person did it. Others would as well if they knew knew the rest of the story with the exception of Dunn.
tiredofcorruption

Deleting my comment about this officer’s mental capacity won’t make it go away. He is a disgrace period. His state of mind is dysfunctional and anyone that agrees with this kind of inflammatory behavior should be dismissed from the force immediately. The racism in this community is so thick you can cut it with a fork. When did we start condoning this kind of arrogance. Think the Chief has let the Indians run wild. Simple analogy for the ignorant.
Mary

HOORAY for Mr. Ortiz, right away as usual black people call RACISTS, I am sick and tired of them using that excuse. Maybe us white people are the minority and guess who occupies the majority of population in our prisons,!!!
Swiftwire

Satan takes on many faces; Rev Dunn should be concern as to why are so many young African Americans in his community are possessed by the Demons. Sgt. Ortiz simply illustrated Durrall Miller’s true image.

“ NO Commissioner Dunn, SHAME ON YOU, you are the true racist in Miami “ . Every time I have seen you in a press conference all I hear is you demonizing the police. I have never heard you addressing the violent crime issues that have plagued your community for generations. The stats are there the death count can’t be ignored.

Dunn You have betrayed hundreds of thousands of victimized members of your community by taken the side of career violent criminals. Law abiding hardworking members of your community have to live with the constant sound of gun fire . Countless children have been struck by stray bullets, at least three or four die every year as a result of the gun violence in your community. The adult victims statistics are in the thousands and you community’s murder rate is the highest in Miami Dade. That’s right Dunn, you surpassed the rest of the County including all the other black communities. It’s not a race problem , IT’S YOUR PROBLEM DUNN….

The media is to blame for giving Dunn the audience and feeding us his hatred and racism, with challenging his baseless allegations….
IJVsr

It may have nothing to do with racism, but it has all to do with the code police officers are expected to live and serve by. For the men and women of law enforcement; irrespective of race or ethnicity; whether currently serving or inactive, who ascribe to the principles expressed in the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, “Sergeant” Ortiz’ act is repugnant. The question is: How is Chief Exposito going to correct this immature, sad and indefensible spectacle?