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Miami's City Manager Suspends Police Chief

We first told you about the long-running feud between Miami's mayor and the city's police chief back in June. Today, NPR's Greg Allen reports the tension reached a climax, when the city manager called Police Chief Miguel Exposito into his office and suspended him.

Greg filed this report:

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado signed off on hiring Miguel Exposito as police chief in 2009. But months later, the two men parted ways. According to Exposito, the falling out had to do with his seizure of coin-operated video gaming devices, which he says constitute illegal gambling.

Last month, Exposito sent a letter to Miami's city manager, saying he'd been unfairly targeted by Mayor Regalado since he accused the mayor of interfering in the police investigation of the video game parlors.

Regalado has denied interfering with the investigation.

From the Miami Herald, this is what the City Manager Johnny Martinez wrote in Exposito's suspension letter: "I have taken this action because you have failed to obey my orders and have taken other actions that indicate just and reasonable cause to demonstrate that you cannot properly perform your duties as chief of police."

If you remember from last June, the coin-operated video gaming devices were championed by the mayor and Exposito went publicly against his boss by ordering his officers to confiscate them across the city. Exposito also claimed that he was offered $400,000 by city officials to "leave his position as chief quietly."

The Miami Herald reportsthat Exposito's suspension paves the way for his firing, but the paper adds that Exposito is gearing for a fight. Last week, Exposito requested whistle blower protection from Martinez.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.