SURFSIDE, Fla. – There’s more information coming to light as to why Surfside’s police chief resigned after just months on the job Friday.
Mayor Charles Burkett told Local 10 News that Chief Henry Doce, hired in March after a long career in nearby Miami Beach, decided to leave because a “hire” that “became an issue” and “a very toxic small group of people in our police department that were working against him.”
“The chief himself, who was super popular with the residents and super popular with this commission, felt that he had become a distraction,” Burkett said.
Now, Burkett is pondering asking for outside help from the Miami-Dade Police Department, soon to be the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, in patrolling the town.
“We’re going to make some serious changes, including reaching out to Metro-Dade (sic) and potentially bringing in Metro-Dade officers,” he said.
Burkett has been in a highly-public back-and-forth dispute with rank-and-file officers.
The town’s police union head has called him a “bully” and Burkett has been seen twice in body camera videos inserting himself into police activities. Another recent video showed a resident claiming he pulled her over; Burkett denies this.
“The response that I got was this union boss is dripping with disdain for you, dripping” Burkett said, referring to Officer Tammy Campbell, who has criticized his conduct.
Union officials said they had nothing to do with Doce’s resignation.
“Well, listen, the union said I was a bully, but didn’t offer any evidence of that. The union said that I was creating an unsafe environment for our officers, but didn’t offer any evidence of that,” Burkett said. “The union said that I was creating problems and didn’t offer any evidence of that. They can say whatever they want, OK? Facts matter.”
In this small town with major drama, the next chapter could unfold at a commission meeting in January, when Burkett said he plans to introduce an agenda item seeking to add MDPD officers to the town to supplement its own police force.