{"id":37481,"date":"2025-11-07T16:23:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/37481\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:23:10","slug":"miami-police-captain-javier-ortiz-sues-city-to-keep-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/37481\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Police Captain Javier Ortiz Sues City to Keep Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFormer Miami Police Capt. Javier Ortiz refuses to go away.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Photo by Miami Police Department<\/p>\n

In May 2023, several months after the Miami Police Department (MPD) fired Javier Ortiz \u2014 the city\u2019s most controversial cop<\/a> \u2014 following years of misconduct, he quietly returned to the force. Under a settlement he struck with the department, Ortiz was reinstated<\/a> to a nighttime desk job, agreed to surrender his service weapon, and promised to retire on November 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

Checks watch.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now November 7, 2025. And Ortiz is, predictably, refusing to go quietly.<\/p>\n

In a complaint filed against the City of Miami on November 6, the former police captain claims that the city breached the non-disparagement clause of its settlement agreement when city officials made \u201cdisparaging remarks\u201d about him \u2014 for instance, in October 2023 when city commissioner Joe Carollo <\/a>allegedly called Ortiz \u201cthe most corrupt cop in America\u201d during a radio broadcast and in February 2025, when city attorney George Wysong allegedly called Ortiz \u201ca former, well, an almost former police captain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWill you step up to support New Times this year?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If\u00a0Miami New Times\u00a0matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that city officials\u2019 statements \u201cconstitute clear violations of the non-disparagement clause\u201d of the agreement. <\/p>\n

\"\"Miami Police Capt. Javier Ortiz at a city commission meeting<\/p>\n

Screenshot via City of Miami TV<\/p>\n

\u201cThere exists proper grounds for rescission of the contract,\u201d the complaint (attached at the bottom of this story) reads. \u201cPlaintiff\u2019s right to continued employment beyond November 7, 2025 is dependent upon the legal effect of Defendant\u2019s breach of the Settlement Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

It adds: \u201cSpecific performance is necessary to prevent the irreparable harm that would result from Plaintiff\u2019s forced retirement.\u201d <\/p>\n

Neither the city nor Ramon Hernandez, the Miami-based attorney who filed the complaint on Ortiz\u2019s behalf, responded to New Times\u2018 request for comment. <\/p>\n

Over his nearly 20-year career, Ortiz has racked up a laundry list of complaints alleging abuse of power, prejudice, and excessive force. <\/p>\n

An MPD officer since 2004, Ortiz logged more than 50 citizen complaints, 20 use-of-force incidents, and three suspensions, all while ascending the ranks.\u00a0New Times\u00a0has chronicled the rise and fall<\/a>\u00a0of the longtime police union boss, recapping dozens of alleged infractions against him, from doxxing private citizens to breaking a woman\u2019s wrist during Art Basel.<\/p>\n

Ortiz, a white-Hispanic officer, made national headlines in 2020 when he claimed during a city meeting that he was\u00a0\u201ca Black male or a Negro\u201d<\/a>\u00a0under the \u201cone drop rule,\u201d an antiquated racial classification system.<\/p>\n

Among other disciplinary actions, Ortiz was suspended in 2020 amid an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the FBI involving current and former MPD officers who\u2019d complained that Ortiz had \u201cengaged in a pattern of abuse and bias against minorities, primarily African Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

It surprised just about everyone when an accusation of violating the department\u2019s overtime policy finally did him in back in September 2022,\u00a0with the newly appointed chief Manny Morales firing Ortiz in one of his first notable moves in the position.<\/p>\n

This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Miami Police Capt. Javier Ortiz refuses to go away. Photo by Miami Police Department In May 2023,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2161,225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-37481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-government","9":"tag-hialeah","10":"tag-hialeah-headlines","11":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}