Five Finalists Remain For Miami's Top Cop Job

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The search for a new top cop in the City of Miami has been narrowed down to five finalists and a decision may be made by Friday, according to CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald.

According to the city, the Herald states, the finalists for the new police chief are: Adam Burden, Michael J. Gugliotti, Rafael Hernandez Jr., Manuel Orosa and Amos Rojas Jr.

City Manager Johnny Martinez said he is interviewing the finalists this week and might name the police chief by Friday.

All five were part of a larger group of ten interviewed by a selection committee headed by Miami-Dade Police Director Jim Loftus. The selection committee narrowed the list to five and sent the names to Martinez, who has the sole power to name the new police chief.

Here's a closer look at the candidates:

• Adam Burden, a former Miami assistant chief, retired in 2009 after former Chief Miguel Exposito demoted him and a slew of other high-ranking staffers hailing from the administration of former police chief, John Timoney.

Burden, the lone black officer selected as a candidate, joined the department in 1987, and was briefly a deputy chief in Opa-locka before leaving that department in March 2011. He has a bachelor's degree from Barry University and a master's from St. Thomas University. As an assistant chief for six years, Burden managed the department's business, administrative and technical offices.

• Michael J. Gugliotti is chief of police in Waterbury, Conn., where he has served in the department since 1988. He has a bachelor's degree from Kaplan University.

• Rafael Hernandez Jr., a former Miami-Dade officer, has served as chief of police in Sweetwater, South Miami and Chelsea, Mass. He was most recently North Miami Beach's chief, fired in July for "administrative reasons" as city leaders were discussing possible police layoffs. He called the firing "unlawful, unjust, unwarranted and unjustifiable."

Hernandez has a bachelor's degree from Florida International University.

• Manuel Orosa, a longtime Miami officer and command staffer, is the current interim police chief.

Though he lacks a college degree, Orosa rose through the ranks, attending prestigious senior management courses and, two years ago, was a finalist for the chief's post.

• Rojas is a longtime Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent who headed Miami's field office for eight years before retiring earlier this year. In that post, he oversaw investigations into public corruption and violent and economic crimes in three counties while serving as a member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Rojas also had stints as an investigator or officer with Miami-Dade Police, South Miami Police, Huntsville Police in Alabama and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

All five finalists have stressed the importance of mending tensions among factions within the department,

emphasized the need for community-oriented policing and building transparent relationships with the local news media.

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