Miami Beach's Troubled Police Force Pays Officers in the Six Figures

Comments (0) By Tim Elfrink Thursday, Mar 25 2010

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And all of that money hasn't bought better policing on the Beach, according to national stats compiled by the FBI. Beach cops solved 15 percent of crimes — less than Hialeah, North Miami Beach, and Miami-Dade County, which cleared 21 percent, and about equal to Coral Gables and the City of Miami.

But the Beach cops were abysmal in some important areas, solving just eight of 50 rapes reported — by far the worst average in the county — and only 9 percent of all car thefts.

Illustrations by Pat Kinsella

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Cops' salaries and pensions, along with precipitously dropping property taxes, might just bankrupt the City of Miami Beach, whose leaders are hard-pressed to rein in police spending. Much of the problem traces to a union agreement that favors cops over taxpayers.

"This contract has been negotiated during more than three decades, so it's very difficult to try to change it in just one sitting," says Jorge Gonzalez, Miami Beach's city manager.

The current three-year contract was negotiated in the heady summer of 2006, when real estate was still on the way up and Miami Beach's bank account was fat. Here's what the agreement guaranteed for Beach cops:

• New hires start at more than $48,000, and cops are guaranteed a 5 percent annual raise every year for their first seven years.

• The city pays for cops' take-home cars, equipment, eyeglasses, and even sunglasses.

• Officers have up to 26 days off each year, including holidays and their birthday, plus up to 12 days of sick leave.

• A "me too" clause guarantees that any new perk negotiated by the firefighters' union also automatically gets added to the cops' pact and vice versa.

To those standard guarantees, the city tossed in additional cost-of-living pay increases that averaged about 5 percent a year, 40 hours more of vacation that retiring cops can sell back to the city for cash when they leave, and an extra $10 a month for "uniform cleaning allowances."

The union has garnered the money in part by playing to public sympathy. In January, police boycotted off-duty work during Super Bowl week and packed City Commission meetings.

"Who wants to piss off a cop?" says Florida State Rep. Juan Zapata, who has introduced a bill this year that would cap pension benefits for public safety workers. "We need to address these contracts in Tallahassee because it's almost impossible for local municipalities to take on police departments."

What's more, the union endorses candidates each election season. The endorsement not only allows a candidate to claim the "law and order" vote but also means the union will encourage its members and friends to donate cash.

Two Miami Beach elected officials, who asked not to be named in this article, say union endorsement is all about money. When the union invites candidates for an interview, they say, the only questions asked are about the contract.

In good years, like 2006, that kind of pressure might not matter as much. But this is anything but a good year. The latest estimate from city actuaries shows a $30 million gap between revenues and spending for 2010.

Roughly half of that deficit comes from plummeting property values. The other half is largely due to skyrocketing pension payouts to the fund that covers police officers and firefighters.

To fix the budget gap, city leaders have proposed that police officers pay 12 percent of their salary — a 2 percent hike — each year into their pensions, that they agree to a two-year freeze in the guaranteed 5 percent raises, and that new hires will be allowed to retire only after age 50. (Now officers can retire whenever their age and years of service add up to 70; so a cop who begins work at age 20 can conceivably retire at 45.)

In early negotiations, the police union has offered to forgo cost-of -living increases for the next two years and to pay an extra 2 percent into the pension fund for one year.

That should be enough to help balance the books, says Fraternal Order of Police President Bello. "We sure as hell aren't going to give up everything we've fought to earn over the last 50 years."

Bello says lack of funding, not six-figure salaries, is the problem. In good times, the department was slated to have more than 400 sworn cops — today there are 367.

"We're in the middle of four weeks of spring break, and we're forcing our guys to work overtime to deal with the country's spring breakers," Bello says. "It's just one event after another on the Beach, yet we're forced to fight with city leaders to show what we're worth."

To Mayor Bower, that argument rings hollow. "This isn't a good year to make the same demands as in years past. I know this is a dangerous job, but they went into the police force knowing that. We're going to need to hold the line on the budget, and part of that means everybody has to give up something."