Commissioner Richard Dunn broke out the football analogies Thursday when describing Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito and sadly, the situation resembled that of the hometown NFL team.
Dunn, who was looking to get the City Commission to approve a no confidence vote in the chief, basically called Exposito a lame duck quarterback that's holding his team back in the clutch (sound familiar?).
"It's time to take the ball out of your hands," Dunn said.
"I'm convinced that he does not possess competence, he does not possess the skills, he does not possess the professionalism that is necessary to lead the city of Miami Police Department.''
But despite the comparison, Exposito will still be quarterbacking the Police Department as the commission decided not to vote on the chief's fate, but the issue might be coming to a head sooner rather than later.
In reality, only newly appointed City Manager Tony Crapp Jr. has the power to fire Expositio, but a vote of no confidence would likely lead to Exposito turning in his badge.
Dunn and Mayor Tomas Regalado have been critical of the much-maligned chief, stemming from a string of police-involved shootings in his district and a reality TV show clip.
But Exposito has backers in his corner, including Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. And the influence of the powerful police union cannot be underestimated, either.
Exposito fired back at his critics at the contentious meeting, sticking to his message that the community has been made safer under his watch. And as for the reality TV show, which Dunn says depicts African Americans in his district as prey animals for Miami police officers, Exposito hinted the edited version was the work of the mayor's family.
He said the promotional video for the TV show "Miami's Finest" may have been edited by Regalado's son, who he claims is an executive producer on the show.
Officials for the TV show told NBCMiami that is not the case.
Regalado, who appointed Exposito to "take back the streets" in 2009, has been at odds with his choice ever since a corruption probe went embarrassingly wrong last year. Regalado then began blaming Exposito for the aggressive policing approach that some community leaders complained led to six unnecessary shootings.
Exposito countered with his own complaints of micromanaging and interference in law enforcement affairs. The veteran cop took the unprecedented step of calling his own press conference to publicly give the mayor a tongue lashing while lobbing accusations of obstruction of justice and a potential FBI investigation.
