SURFSIDE, Fla. – Surfside residents voiced their concerns at a town commission meeting on Tuesday night.
Several commissioners said they have received dozens of emails from town residents worried that the town plans to abolish the Surfside Police Department.
Mayor Charles Burkett assured residents that is not the case, but he still raised concerns about the department’s performance.
“We have a great police department, but we have a few in the police department that have resisted our calls for a change and improvement,” said Burkett.
Talk about the future and performance of the Surfside Police Department dominated the first half of the city’s commission meeting.
“This commission would never do anything to dismantle our police department,” said Commissioner Nelly Velasquez.
Burkett denied that he plans to replace the department and allow the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office to take over.
Instead, he said he wants better performance from officers.
But some of the mayor’s antics also came under fire, like his questioning a town police officer who was conducting traffic enforcement in early December, which was seen on body camera video.
“We’re also going to urge you to refrain from directly interfering with officers as they carry out their duties,” said Sean Kelly with the Fraternal Order of Police. “If you observe any concerns or areas requiring attention, we respectfully request you communicate these issues through the appropriate channels.”
The mayor has also been sparring with Police Union President Tammy Campbell.
“One of the issues we have is calling her, ‘union boss,’” said Kelly. “That has such a negative connotation. That implies that she has got extreme power and that she’s corrupt and that she’s self-serving.”
All of this talk about the police department coming only a few days after the town rehired its old police chief, Henry Doce. It’s still not clear why he decided to come back to the department after leaving abruptly in December.