The first Black police chief in Miami Beach history is reporting for duty.
Wayne Jones, a 54-year-old Bahamian American, has ascended the department’s ranks over the past 27 years. On Thursday, he took the oath of office as chief in front of a packed audience at the city’s New World Center auditorium.
During the swearing-in ceremony, Jones said he’s “humbled to stand before you as the first Black police chief in one of America’s most iconic cities,” according to the Miami Herald.
Jones’ installment comes in the wake of years of scrutiny and criticism of the police department’s handling of Black citizens in a community where, per U.S. Census figures, just 4.7 percent of its residents identify as Black.
According to NBC News, the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP demanded the firing of the Miami Beach police chief and city manager after “racist” footage of police contacts with Black people on spring break was made public in 2020.
In 2015, Miami Beach police officers reportedly sent hundreds of racist and pornographic emails, including ones against President Barack Obama, which may have compromised scores of criminal cases in which they were witnesses, CBS News reported. An internal inquiry revealed that two of the 16 officers were senior members of the Miami Beach Police Department and served as the primary organizers of the communications.
The Miami Herald reported that five Miami Beach police officers were arrested in 2021 for using excessive force on a Black man restrained in handcuffs and for assaulting the Black bystander videotaping the incident.
The city also received flak for enacting an ordinance unfairly targeting Black tourists who recorded videos of police, which came as part of a slew of tough-on-crime initiatives following a disorderly spring break.
While outlining his goal for the agency, Jones said data indicates crime has decreased in the tourist…
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