BISCAYNE PARK, Fla. – Biscayne Park’s police department is small in a community that is home to roughly 3,000 people. In recent weeks, several veteran officers have essentially quit their jobs and they all point their fingers at the interim village manager as their main reason.
Mark Steele, the now former chief of the Biscayne Park Police Department, said concerns over being forced into unethical and illegal practices moved him to walk away as the village’s top cop.
“He would threaten to discipline us if we didn’t agree with him or lie for him,” said Steele.
Albert Childress is the interim village manager, hired last year by the commission after being fired by the city of Key West following a contentious tenure there that involved a shaky management style, questionable policies and an overall decline in employee morale.
Some of those allegations have followed Childress to Biscayne Park.
“Aa the last remaining female officer in the village, it is with a heavy heart that I resign effective today,” said former Officer D. Rodriguez. “I can no longer standby while the safety of this community is being jeopardized.”
Biscayne Park is no stranger to controversy. In 2018, former chief Raimundo Atesiano was sentenced to prison for civil rights violations, and just last year, Luis Cabrera, who was brought in to clean up the department, resigned under pressure amid his own firestorm of internal affairs investigations.
Mark Steele was promoted in his place, but now walks away after nine months.
Capt. Jorge Rosero is now acting police chief for the village.
At least five hostile working environment complaints have been filed against the interim villlage manager.
Childress declined an on-camera interview with Local 10 News, citing an active investigation.