Grant Miller, Publisher

Any kid who grew up in the 1960s can tell you that he or she has a gut feeling for when the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Miranda v. Arizona. That decision forced every arresting officer to read a warning to suspects telling them that they had the right to remain silent.

Jack Webb, star and producer of NBC’s “Dragnet” must have had Detectives Joe Friday and Bill Gannon recite it at least twice a show beginning in 1967, from beginning to end, all 74 words.  The reason? Without the warning, anything a suspect said could be used against him in a court of law.

It’s been engrained into the cultural consciousness.  Everyone understands you don’t say something incriminating or stupid to a cop.

Everyone, it seems, except Joe Carollo.

Revoltin’ Joe has been at war with the owners of Ball & Chain, the Calle Ocho tavern who had the audacity to support Carollo’s opponent in the last election.  Doing the worst imitation of Sylvester Stallone from “Judge Dredd”, Joe reportedly told the bar’s valet, “I am the law!” He sicced the City’s Code Enforcement cadets on Ball & Chain and got slapped back with a federal lawsuit that is still pending in the U.S. District Court.

Now, Joe’s got a new genius plan to get back at Ball & Chain.  He put an item on the consent agenda to have the City of Miami enact an ordinance that will forbid City cops from working off-duty for “establishments that hold a 4COP or a 4COP SRX/SFS license”, namely bars and taverns that serve not only beer and wine, but liquor, too.

The reason stated in the proposed ordinance? “Because the conduct of the officer, employee, or clientele of the establishment detracts from MPD’s professional stature,” the legislation reads.

The jingle of “Dragnet” sounded like “Dum-ta-dum-dum. Dum-ta-dum-dum-dum.” What Joe is proposing is more than a little dumb.  It’s moronic.

Will it prevent off-duty Miami cops from working at bars? Yes. Will it prevent all off-duty cops from working at bars in the City of Miami? No. I’m sure that Miami-Dade Police officers will be happy to take over these jobs.  County cops have arrest jurisdiction even in the City limits.

Or bars could hire armed security guards for a lot less than it costs to employ an officer.  If an establishment needs a brooding omnipresence at the front door to keep order, it will happen one way or another.

City of Miami cops will lose out on a lucrative gig and those who need the extra money for their families or to put a kid through college will be out of luck.

Why is Carollo really doing this?  He resigned as a public service aide at Miami International Airport, never being able to make the jump to being a full-fledged policeman.  He was more akin to a tricycle than racing bike. Maybe this is his way to get back at those he thought that had done him wrong.

If this is the reason, his healthcare benefits with the City of Miami now include\ mental health care.  He needs to schedule time with a therapist and work out his feelings of inadequacy. He doesn’t need to take out his hostility towards Ball & Chain by picking the pockets of Miami’s Finest.

At this point, two things need to be done to put Joe back in his place. One of the other four Commissioners needs to object and to have the item taken off the consent agenda. If he really wants to push this, let him put it on the full agenda where Joe will have to face the public, the press, and Miami’s cops and fully explain why he’s taking opportunities away from them.

The second thing is that the Miami Fraternal Order of Police needs to step up and form a committee to recall Joe Carollo. I’ve already written about how it can be done. And I’ve also written about the reasons that could be put forth to satisfy the causation requirements on the recall petitions themselves.

Joe had the right to remain silent. But like every defendant on “Dragnet”, he insisted on talking.  His words should be used against him in the court of public opinion.


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8 COMMENTS

  1. Hey Joe,

    It’s your old buddy that stood next to George D. and watched when you went to north dade’s greybar after the little tempest in a teapot thing. It was nice to have a 24 hour phone in there, when you were the mayor, but we have to start looking at the 21st Century more…..you’re living in the early Castro era when Sh*t like this flies.

    For those new to the area, we have to look back at Joe when he was a wee lad that was given the opportunity to be a stand up guy and support former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre at a press conference. Instead, he chose to stand up and stick a knife in this guy’s back by NOT supporting him and being rather vocal about it…. ON TV!

    What Joe should tell the people is the type of medication he is being prescribed (under a different name) for that nasty bi-polar thing he seems to have to deal with. Joe should tell people about the gun he has in his night table, and the one in the kitchen; all readily within 10 feet of each other around his house.

    Paranoia? Naw! It’s just Joe preparing for the inevitable day when he has run out of people to fight, until he looks at himself in the mirror and screams…..DRAW MOTHER F**KER!!!!
    Neighbors will see the glass company the next day, and we will all know that Joe’s trolley has rounded the bend for the last time.

    He Joe, is it true that the off shore account that you have is in the Cayman Islands?

    Hmmm……I wonder if that’s his last stop……

    Oh well, perhaps a SLAPP suit will stop him cold?

  2. Joe Carollo is a vindictive selfish child!
    He has a very checkered history and despite his history voters keep him in office. Thank you Grant Miller for giving us the facts. The neighborhood is not a quiet residential area but rather a bustling busy urban neighborhood with bars, restaurants and residential apts. Ball and Chain has brought the neighborhood a new revitalization and honors the history of Calle Ocho!

  3. Joe Carollo has a long, racist history that compliments his past as a wife-beating maniac and his present as Miami’s worst city Commissioner, which is a real prize considering how awful the body has become since 2017’s changing of the guard at Dinner Key.

    But even a broken clock is right twice a day.

    This is the first time Joe Carollo has stuck his neck out to help this city. Miami Police run a literal racket surrounding bars and nightclubs in this town. If you don’t hire enough off-duty cops, they’ll shut your ass down faster than Crazy Joe.

    It’s true.

    Joe Carollo’s plan to kick off-duty Miami cops out of Miami’s nightlife scene has merit.

    It should be implemented.

    The Miami FOP has groomed a horrendous reputation for many years by placing atop its union a loudmouth agitator who committed civil rights violations just for fun.

    Miami PD is still under a federal monitor for murdering unarmed black men.

    Frankly, Miami cops can go staff bars in any other municipality or unincorporated area outside of the city and those mouths will too, be fed.

    But just as Miami Beach PD learned a few years ago, it’s very difficult to police the police when they’re working at nightclubs inside their jurisdiction. The lines are too blurry between a private citizen (which they truly are when working security) and a police officer enforcing laws. The practice of off-duty cops working bars and clubs leads good men down bad paths, and in case you missed it, the police don’t police themselves at all. There were numerous horrible incidents on the Beach until there was a tragic fatality when a drunken cop killed a tourist on the beach by accident.

    Joe Carollo is a sad excuse for a city commissioner, who is, this one time, right.

  4. One editorial comment, you forgot the word “not” in the following sentence, “Without the warning, anything a suspect said could [not] be used against him in a court of law.”

    That said, I look forward each week to your skewering El Comandanté de Calle Ocho. What a pathetic excuse for a public servant. Almost as pathetic as the State Attorney’s Office of Public Corruption, which sits idly by while a tin pot despot like Nut Bag Carrollo employs corrupt practices and engages in political dick measuring contests with every one who would stand in his way. Especially honorable men like Bill Fuller. (Did you know that Bill Fuller’s uncle tried to overthrow Cuba in a military operation launched by the US, even before the Bay of Pigs.). Keep the spot light on old Joe and hopefully soon he will skitter back into his cucaracha waco and disappear forever.

  5. Mr. Carollo doesn’t need a “devil’s advocate” to plead his case, he just needs to grow up and act like the public servant he pretends to be.

  6. Using your paper to launch a weekly attack on Corollo is unfair practices.

    If you were to “interview” Corollo and ask him why he does what he does … his reasoning for wanting to close Ball and Chain (maybe it’s the location; next to a neighborhood of homes, and condo’s/apt) and the people are complaining?

    I would love to hear the “other side”. Remember, there are 3 sides to a story; yours, his and the truth.

    Yes… I am playing the devils advocate here!

    JC

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