Miami’s City Manager Art Noriega appointed the city’s Interim Police Chief into the role permanently, ending a months-long process to find a new head of the Miami Police Department (MPD).
“After further evaluating Chief [Manuel] Morales’ performance during the first 100 days, I am extremely confident that he is eminently qualified, respected and admired by many and will continue to do a great job as Chief for the Police Department. Furthermore, this decision will ensure stability at the leadership level of the City’s Police department, ” Noriega said in a release Monday.
Morales has been a member of the department since 1994 – a 28-year tenure. He was previously the police commander and major overseeing four of the different MPD service areas in the city.
He is Miami’s fifth police chief in the past decade, and he replaced former Police Chief Art Acevedo, who was fired after questionable decisions and comments five months ago. Acevedo, who was Houston’s police head before he came to Miami, referred to the leaders of MPD as the “Cuban Mafia” at least twice.
He has since sued the city for damages, claiming he was fired for acting as a whistleblower.
Miami is looking for a fresh start with Morales at the helm.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be selected as Chief of the Miami Police Department. I would like to thank our City Manager, Art Noriega, for having the confidence in my ability to guide our department into the next chapter, I am grateful to Mayor Suarez and all the City Commissioners for their support not only of me, but more importantly their support for all the men and women of the Miami Police that work hard every day to make Miami safer for all,” Morales said in a separate statement.
“To all the heroes of the Miami PD, I want to thank you for your steadfast commitment to our community policing principles, your daily sacrifices do not go unnoticed nor unappreciated,” he continued. “To our community, I pledge to hold the sanctity of human life at the center of all we do at the Miami Police Department.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
