16 Miami Beach cops probed over 'disgusting' racist, sexist emails

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

An internal affairs probe in Miami Beach found that two high-level former police officers sent hundreds of crude, racist and pornographic emails to fellow cops over a two-year period, the state's attorney and police officials say.

The officials said Thursday that the incidents may have compromised dozens of criminal cases in which the officers were witnesses.

Many involved crude racial jokes about President Barack Obama or black celebrities like pro golfer Tiger Woods and rapper Snoop Dogg, the officials told reporters at a news conference.

One shows a woman with a black eye and the caption, "Domestic violence. Because sometimes, you have to tell her more than once."

Another featured an image of "Black Monopoly," in which every board game square shows a cop saying "Go to Jail."

Some of the emails, all sent via city email servers, made fun of women and undocumented immigrants, and were sprinkled with pornographic images.

Chief Daniel Oates told reporters that at least 16 officers sent or received 230 offensive emails, mainly between 2010 and 2012.

"I can't tell you how angry we are," Oates said. "We want to send a message to our officers and our employees that this kind of behavior is over."

Most were allegedly sent by now-retired Maj. Angel Vasquez and former Capt. Alex Carulo, who was fired on Thursday.

Vasquez retired last summer after he was confronted by the emails. Oates described him as a "charismatic, domineering figure within the organization with a reputation you do not cross."



Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the city is reviewing some 540 cases in which the officers were witnesses to see if their testimony was racially biased. She said some charges could be dropped as a result or prisoners freed from jail.

Rundle told reporters that the emails reflected the "juvenile behavior and locker room mentality" of the department under former police chief Raymond Martinez.

"These activities are a breach of trust. They are disgusting," Rundle said at a joint news conference. "Our goal is to make sure our office reviews with a fine-toothed comb all of these cases."

Rundle said this conduct "seems to have been accepted by the department and permeated the highest ranks."

She said prosecutors are reviewing the cases of 16 officers who sent or received the emails.

One photo sent over the city email system was from the autopsy of Raymond Herisse, who was killed by Miami Beach police during a controversial shooting in 2011. Prosecutors are now investigating whether Vasquez broke the law by allegedly emailing the photo to someone outside of the department.

Martinez did not become Miami Beach's chief until November 2011. He took over for Carlos Noriega, whose tenure was also marked by embarrassing incidents, the Miami Herald reports.

Oates said the inappropriate emails first came to light through another internal affairs investigation of Vasquez in late 2013. An internal affairs captain urged then-chief Martinez to open a full investigation, he said.

Carulo's attorney said on Thursday that his client will fight his dismissal because the punishment was too severe for behavior that stopped several years ago. "This is old stuff," lawyer Eugene Gibbons told the Herald.

"There were other people involved in the emails who received them who presumably viewed them and did nothing about it," Gibbons said. "It wasn't just Carulo. It was a cultural thing that was going on within the police department."

"The Fraternal Order of Police" is a diverse organization who does not tolerate racism or sexism in any way but we continue to support our members' right to due process," Miami Beach FOP President BobbyJenkins said in a statement, WTVJ-TV reports.