Watch Rick Scott avoid answering a question FOUR times!

Few politicians can look you in the eye and completely ignore what you just asked...like Governor Rick Scott.

Miami Beach police sergeant under investigation for being intoxicated while working an off-duty job was demoted and suspended in 2011

Miami Beach Police Sergeant Michael Muley
Photo via WSVN

The Miami Beach police sergeant under investigation for being intoxicated while working an off-duty job at the Ocean Drive nightclub Mangos, was demoted and suspended in 2011.

In 2011, Sgt. Michael Muley was demoted to police officer, and suspended for 80 hours without pay for failing to properly supervise the two officers involved in the infamous July 4, 2011 ATV crash on Miami Beach.

In that incident, Miami Beach police officer Derick Kuilan took a woman on a drunken joy ride on the beach on his police issued ATV. Kuilan met the woman after he and a fellow officer, who were both on duty at the time, crashed a bachelorette party at the Clevelander Hotel in 2011.

Kuilan was fired and was recently found guilty of reckless driving and sentenced to 18 months in state prison.

At Kuilan's trial last month Muley testified that "he was surprised by Kuilan's behavior after seeing a picture of the officer and law enforcement colleague Rolando Gutierrez partying with the bachelorette and her friends at the Clevelander Hotel right before the joyride."

In 2002, Muley was awarded a Letter of Commendation by then Miami Beach Police Chief Don De Lucca, "for rescuing three people in less than 30 days - all while he was off-duty," according to an Aug. 1, 2002 Miami Herald story:

In his free time, Miami Beach Police Detective Michael Muley saves lives.

The detective was awarded a Letter of Commendation last week for rescuing three people in less than 30 days - all while he was off-duty.

``Three lives in a month is amazing,'' Miami Beach Police Chief Don De Lucca said. ``Most people don't save a single life during their lifetimes.''

On July 14, Muley , 36, was walking his dog near his home in Davie when he heard a car lose control and plunge into a canal. He called 911, found the crash scene in the 4300 block of Southwest 142nd Avenue and rescued a passenger who had escaped the vehicle but was disoriented in the water, according to the commendation.

Muley jumped back into the zero-visibility water and pulled a passenger out of the window of the submerged car, which was underwater on its side.

Muley returned to search for a third passenger, but was unable to locate her after several attempts. She was later found by a rescue diver, but she died in the emergency room at Cleveland Clinic in Weston.

That rescue effort was the second time in one month the Special Investigations Squad detective saved somebody's life.

On June 19, Muley and another officer rescued an Orange County police officer who had collapsed of heat exhaustion during the Florida Law Enforcement Games in Tampa. According to a report of the incident written by Sunny Isles Beach Police Chief Fred Maas, Muley helped bring the exhaustion victim out of shock by shaking and placing ice on him.

When cops attack...each other [UPDATED x2]

Miami Police officer Marcel Jackson and Miami Police Internal Affairs Lt.
David Ramras scuffle near West Flagler Street and 18th Ave. late last month.
(Click images to enlarge.)

Late last month Miami Police officer Marcel Jackson was on his way to a call when a car sped past him.

Jackson pulled the car over at West Flagler Street and 18th Avenue.

Blogger Al Crespo recounts what happened next:

In late June Officer Jackson chased down a speeder, capturing the entire event on his [personal dashboard-mounted] ] Go Pro camera. The portion below is just a small part of the [55 minute video] video that I obtained about this incident.

The guy in the white shirt you’ve probably figured out if you looked at the entire clip turned out to be somebody important. In fact, it was a City of Miami policeman, and not just any old policeman, but Lieutenant David Ramras, assigned to Internal Affairs.

In the video below, Officer Jackson can be seen approaching Lt. Ramras' unmarked vehicle and begin talking to him [at the 0:40 mark].

Words are exchanged, and 15 seconds after Jackson approaches Ramras' vehicle, [at the 0:55 mark] Ramras tries to force his way out of the car.

And that's when things go horribly wrong.

It's not clear if Ramras ever told Jackson he was a police officer.



Video via Al Crespo.

(In another part of the video shot by Jackson, he recorded himself calling a friend or colleague and telling him about the altercation. Click here for that video.)

Crespo reports "so far there [has] never [been] a Use Of Force Report [filed], a traffic citation [issued] against Ramras for speeding, or an Arrest Report written.

My sources tell me that this entire incident has been turned over to the State Attorney's office, and a criminal investigation has been launched.

________

UPDATE x1: Miami Police spokesman Napier Velazquez declined to comment Monday morning on reports that Jackson had been relieved of duty. Velazquez said he couldn't comment because the incident is now being investigated by Internal Affairs. 

However, sources tell me that Jackson has been relieved of duty with pay. 

UPDATE x2: Javier Ortiz, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police sent out this statement Monday afternoon: The Miami Fraternal Order of Police has received numerous media inquiries regarding the incident involving two of our members due to multiple stories written via social media. Unfortunately, some of the information being published is incorrect. Some of the conversations and information provided in these stories were not captured by the secret recordings or coming from credible sources leaving some questions which will be answered when the proper time comes.

On the day of the incident, one of our members requested for the FOP to respond. We responded immediately and provided attorneys to both Officer Jackson and Lieutenant Ramras. Neither party has provided a statement. The Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney is reviewing the case and we look forward to this investigation being concluded.

________

What's interesting about this is that despite it being discussed in detail on a blog frequented by Miami Police officers, nothing has ever been written about it in the Herald or mentioned in any TV news reports.

________

Read Crespo's entire report by clicking here. 

________

One veteran Miami cop told me this afternoon that he can't ever recall a case of one officer attacking another.

In fact, one has to go back 40 years to find a case of a Miami cop attacking another while on duty.

In September 1974, a handcuffed black Miami undercover officer was attacked and beaten by two white Miami cops at a Biscayne Boulevard motel.

One of the assailants, Charles Outlaw, was convicted after a trial the following year and given two years probation. 



Miami News, May 12, 1975: Cop goes on trial in beating of officer

The Miami Herald's publisher is desperately seeking people who are desperate enough to work for the Herald

Click to enlarge.

Miami Herald publisher Alexandra Villoch posted this job opening on her Facebook page last Friday.

The Herald is looking for "experienced, aggressive sales professionals" to join a "powerhouse group of proven professionals," she wrote.

My first thought when I read Villoch's post was, who in South Florida is so desperate for a job that they'd want to try and convince businesses to advertise in the Miami Herald?

The irony here is that a newspaper that can't afford to hire enough reporters to adequately cover the news, apparently has plenty of money to hire sales people...and give them generous benefits.

Thoughts on Lebron's exit

Four years ago when Lebron James announced "I am taking my talents to South Beach," I watched TV in amazement as one Cleveland fan - a young man in his early 20's - bawled into the camera, "This is the worst day of my entire life."

Now I'm hearing much the same reaction here in Miami. Really? It's time to get a life, folks.

If you drove home tonight feeling that your life was not going to be as enjoyable and meaningful tomorrow as it was one week ago because some carpetbagger basketball player you never met picked up and left town, then you need some serious and intensive counseling.

Or at the very least, you need to turn off sports talk radio and take up a hobby. Or read a book.

But if you still can't bear the thought of King James leaving, you can always relive the past with one of these prints from the Miami Herald Online Store.

Miami Herald, page 1A. 
July 9, 2010.

The way we were...Miami Beach Police Department had an eye in the sky in 1939

In 1939, before anyone had ever heard of drones, the Miami Beach Police Department was keeping an eye on things with this cutting-edge technology.