MIAMI LODGE

F R A T E R N A L thO R D E R O F P O L I C E
710 Southwest 12 Avenue. Miami, Florida 33130
Phone (305) 854-5019
Ortiz@fopmiami.com

Javier Ortiz
PRESIDENT

Thomas Reyes
SECRETARY

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Javier Ortiz
Phone: 786-290-1183
January 7, 2015
Miami FOP Lodge# 20 Enough Is Enough, Lets Focus On Whats Destroying Miami
Good evening Commissioners,
I want to thank those of you that were able to attend our Law Enforcement Support Rally. We
had over 1,300 supporters and it was a huge success. I would like to especially thank
Commissioner Frank Carollo with his presence as well as his participation in the event. On
tomorrows agenda, there is a resolution from the Miami Police Department in regards to how
we should handle deadly force situations involving Miami Police Officers. In our opinion, Chief
Orosa is asking for approval to pass the buck to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Our Homicide Unit is more than capable of handling them, especially since they handle
shootings in our city on a daily basis. I am all for transparency. If having an outside agency
taking the lead on police deadly force situations makes for better policy, lets talk about it. I
contacted Assistant Chief Rodolfo Llanes and requested for a delay on this resolution from
being heard. I wanted to have the FOP, FDLE, and the Miami Police Department to have a
round table discussion about if this is truly a sound approach in handling deadly force
situations. Deadly force is serious business to our law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, my
request was denied by the current Chief.
For the past few months, some people in the community have misguided others in believing that
the police are killing people with no accountability. Whats interesting is that the cases that
have been highlighted for the past few months by the media have nothing to do with the Miami
Police Department or even the State of Florida. But, some politicians or Chiefs want to jump on
what they may deem as being a trendy topic to some of their constituents. Instead of going on
what is being said on the news, lets go by facts:
In 2013, there were 74 homicides in our city. In 2014, we had a total of 86 homicides. While
there was a significant increase in homicides in 2014, not a single one of those deaths had
anything to do with a Miami Police Officer. 2015 has also begun with a rough start with 6
homicides and we are only seven days into this year.

Seeing that there has been not one homicide this past year that had anything to do with a Miami
Police Officer firing their weapon, I believe our priorities are all wrong. What really needs to
be addressed are the issues of poverty, unemployment and education that creates a set of
circumstances that breeds crime.
As stated by the Miami Herald today: Three separate shootings in Miami, all within 14 hours
and a mile of each other, left two men dead, a third clinging to life, and a teenage girl and a
woman with minor injuries. Where is the outrage from the community? Where is the NAACP
and organizations like the Civilian Investigative Panel, PULSE and the others doing to better
their communities and putting a stop to the homicides in our city? The answer is NOTHING.
Where are the rallies to state that ALL lives matter? Apparently, everyone is missing the big
picture except our police officers that rush from call to call. The Miami Fraternal Order of
Police is asking for there to be a deferral on this item. Enough is enough. Its time to focus on
what our community really needs to do: Support our police officers and have the community
take a stand against crime.

Fraternally,
Javier Ortiz
Sergeant Javier Ortiz, President
Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #20
#EnoughIsEnough

A Proud Tradition in Law Enforcement