An internal affairs sergeant is now conducting an investigation into a Miami Gardens officer's actions Wednesday morning.
Police say they presume the officer was coming from his home when Chopper 6 saw the officer first in southwest Miami-Dade with his lights on and passing vehicles on the Florida Turnpike, including on the shoulder of the road. He was more than 20 miles from Miami Gardens.
Video shows the officer in a marked Miami Gardens unit on the Turnpike behind a white truck with his lights flashing. The unit is marked K9 and numbered 002. The officer is seen driving partially onto the shoulder. He moves over into the right lane and eventually moves back to the left and passes the truck using the shoulder.
In all, the officer was seen driving on the shoulder seven times to pass traffic on the roadways between 7a.m. and 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The officer's route took him from the Florida Turnpike near Kendall Drive northbound into Broward where he got off on 57th Avenue--Red Road--and traveled south to the Palmetto Expressway. There he headed east and exited at the NW 12th avenue exit and stopped at the Miami Gardens Police Headquarters.
With the lights flashing, he passed numerous cars on the turnpike, and on Red Road he used his emergency signals too in traffic.
The officer turned off his lights when on the Palmetto, west of the police station and once at police headquarters he's seen getting out of this unit, walking over to another patrol car and then getting back in his unit and driving off.
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Miami Gardens police say they have an internal affairs investigation underway but the K9 team was called to aid on a burglary call.
Michael Wright, with the Miami Gardens police department said: " He was requested by another officer regarding a burglary in progress where they were chasing subjects."
Wright said since he was with a specialized unit, he was able to use his emergency procedures.
Andre Williams, spent six years a Miami Gardens Councilman and is now a community activist.
After looking at the video he said: "We want cops, we want police officers that follow the letter of the law and follow proper protocols. So we need to make sure that this police officer followed the proper protocol and if he didn't we need to take appropriate action. "
Police said two people were captured after the officer got off on Red Road, but he continued to have the lights on his entire time on 57th Ave. and for a time on the Palmetto.
NBC 6 also requested the written policy on when a Miami Gardens officer can use their emergency procedures, especially when they are not on duty or outside the city but haven't received the written policy on those rules yet to compare them with what the camera in our helicopter captured.
