It could take months for Miami-Dade County’s Investigative Civilian Panel (ICP) to hire a top administrator who will lead the recently created police oversight board and present police misconduct cases.
Despite a deadline early this month for candidates to submit applications, the ICP still didn’t know if anyone had applied for the job at press time. At the panel’s second meeting on Nov. 15, Laura Morilla, director of the county’s office of community advocacy, which is providing staff support to the panel, said she had not received any information on how many people have applied for the position.
Miami-Dade advertised the job on a dozen websites, including the county’s job portal, the American Bar Association, the Florida Bar Association, the Florida League of League of Cities and LinkedIn, Morilla noted.
On Nov. 19, Morilla told the Biscayne Times that she was still waiting for an update on executive director applicants from Virginia Washington, director of Miami-Dade’s recruitment and career development division. A selection committee composed of three panel members is scheduled to meet Dec. 20 to review résumés and pick a shortlist of candidates to interview.
Loreal Arscott, a Miami attorney appointed to the ICP by County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, told the Biscayne Times she remains hopeful the oversight board can hire an executive director by January or February.
“I think it is just going to take some time,” said Arscott, who was elected as the ICP’s chair by her 11 panel colleagues. “I am not concerned. I think we will be fine with the applicant pool.”
The hiring of an executive director is the first crucial decision the ICP will make in determining how soon the oversight board can begin the arduous task of investigating citizen complaints against Miami-Dade County Police officers, as well as reviewing the county police department’s policies and procedures.
More than a decade after a previous iteration called the Independent Review Panel was dismantled, then Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan led an 8-5 commission vote in August 2020 to revive a civilian police oversight board after she agreed it would not have subpoena power.
The ICP held its first meeting in October 2021 after 12 of the 13 county commissioners made their picks for who would serve on the panel. Arscott said she and her fellow panel members are moving as quickly as possible despite only having two meetings under their belt.
“We are here, ready to work,” Arscott said. “We are making sure we are acting in haste. This panel is interested in moving expeditiously to be able to hear cases. We just have to do some housekeeping first.”
In addition to the group that will review executive director candidates, the panel formed subcommittees to write bylaws and establish training on police practices and procedures. The panel also voted to create its own website that offers residents the ability to contact and interact with the panel, as well as conduct community outreach meetings.
The ICP also authorized spending $20,000 from its $750,000 annual budget to send up to 10 panel members to attend the annual conference by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) in Tucson, Ariz., this month. The expenditure also requires final approval from the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, which was scheduled for a Dec. 1 vote, after the Biscayne Times went to press.
Pam Perry, ICP Vice Chair
Coral Gables lawyer Pam Perry, ICP’s vice chair and County Commissioner Sally Heyman’s ICP appointee, says the ordinance creating Miami-Dade’s oversight board requires that panel members receive training on handling police misconduct cases. She adds that the NACOLE conference provides members of civilian police boards from around the country with state-of-the-art training on how to conduct investigations into police complaints.
“These are very complicated issues and you can’t come at it superficially or politically, or else bad things happen,” Perry said. “I think it was wonderful that so many members are willing to hop on a plane, and goes to show their commitment to doing it properly. You have to be professional, knowledgeable and focused to do this work.”
Arscott says the ICP may extend its deadline for accepting executive director applications until after the NACOLE conference, which is highlighting Miami-Dade’s creation of the panel as one of its main topics.
“I think that will create more of a buzz for the job,” Arscott said. “Potential applicants attending the conference will find out about Miami-Dade.”
Jeanne Baker, an attorney serving on the board of the Miami chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which was among the social justice groups that pushed for the recreation of the Miami-Dade police oversight board, says the panel is on the right track, despite facing bureaucratic hurdles in getting its administrative staff in place.
“I attended the first two meetings and I was very encouraged by how focused the panel is,” Baker said. “They can’t hear cases because they don’t have the policies and procedures in place. That can’t be established until an executive director is hired. It’s frustrating, but they can’t put the cart before the horse.”