Police Panel Kicking Complaints to the Curb

Sometimes Officer Friendly is more like Officer Inappropriate.

At least according to some who filed complaints with the Civilian Investigative Panel -- the watchdog board set up to give independent review of police actions.

"I didn't know he was an officer," said Kia Grant, one of those complaint filers. "He just told us to get out of the car."

Grant said this is where police pointed their weapons at her and her three-year-old son. At the time, she said she thought she was being robbed, as the officers weren't wearing uniforms.

"They left my son crying and they didn't ask for my registration.. my license.. my tag.. nothing," Grant said.

To add insult to injury, Grant said she got no satisfaction -- or, more importantly, help -- when she complained to internal affairs and the CIP.

The Independent Counsel for the CIP, however, said Grant's complaint and all others are thoroughly investigated.

Steve Wolfe, former lead investigator for the CIP, begs to differ.

In his letter to city leaders, he called the lack of action on complaints a "serious breach of the public trust" and a "broken promise to the citizens."

Wolfe said of the 250 complaints filed this year, 120 -- almost half -- were closed with little or no investigation, and that there is virtually no outside review of police misconduct.

The head of the CIP, Tom Rebull, said he never felt that anyone on the panel was acting in anything but good faith, but Wolfe alledges that the Indepent Council was terminating investigations before their time, which independent council member Charles Mays denies.

Mays also said Wolfe, who lost his job because of budget cuts, can't cry foul now after participating in Grant's and other investigations.

The indepdent council called some of Wolfe's allegations half-truths, but he's sticking to the claim that if you file a complaint against Miami police -- many times nothing with happen.

"Don't go to that panel because they're no help at all," warned Grant. "To me it seems like they're working together."

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