Feds probe Bal Harbour Police Department over seized millions

For Bal Harbour police, it was a whirlwind: cops jetting to Las Vegas, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles — with the goal of seizing millions from criminals.

Two flew on first-class flights while two others went business class to California, where they stayed in the wine country of Temecula Valley.

In just one month, the village’s police helped reel in $3 million — and by the end of the year, they took more dollars from drug dealers than any police force in Florida.

While small police departments rarely venture beyond their borders, Bal Harbour’s force has become a massive cash generator, infiltrating drug organizations across the country with no connection to the coastal village.

Armed with a team of snitches and undercover cops, the vice unit makes few arrests, but seizes a fortune in cash every year.

Now, the special unit is under federal investigation for its handling of millions in seized dollars, including hundreds of thousands paid to snitches, questionable expenses and missing financial records.

In a rare move, agents have frozen millions that Bal Harbour helped confiscate under a program that allows police to seize the riches of criminals — and keep a cut of the proceeds.

For the past year, the village has been forced to turn over reams of records in a grueling audit that’s now under review by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors.

Bal Harbour Police Chief Thomas Hunker, who was subpoenaed in March, said his unit has never broken the law.

“Since 1994, I’ve had not one incident where anything is missing,” said Hunker, 61, who has been chief since 2003. “We have a standard operating procedure and a policy and sign-in logs that we have to maintain control.”

Hunker, an unsuccessful candidate for the Miami Beach chief job this year, blamed much of the probe on jealousy by federal agents.

“Sometimes we give them cases. Sometimes we don’t. If we don’t give them a big case, and we get a big hit, they get pissed. It’s competition.”

But even before the investigation, the village’s forfeiture fund came under scrutiny in May by its own auditors, who found questionable expenses, poor accounting and a lack of oversight.

Al Treppeda, the village manager and former police chief, did not return a phone call on Friday, referring all questions to the police.

Now, federal agents are looking at the flow of money into the town — including plainclothes cops toting bags stuffed with cash on airliners and later counting it in a police trailer.

For years, the department of 27 officers, serving a village of 2,574 people, has run its forfeiture program like an ATM machine, tapping into a network of informants who led police to the cash.

And for years, the money rained on Bal Harbour: $100,000 for a 35-foot boat powered by three Mercury outboards, $108,000 for a mobile command truck equipped with satellite and flat-screen TVs, $25,463 for next generation Taser X-2s.

There was $7,000 for a police chiefs’ banquet, $45,839 for a Chevy Tahoe, $26,473 for Apple computers, $15,000 for a laser virtual firing range and $21,000 for an anti-drug beach bash.

The biggest pay — $624,558 — to snitches over the past four years.

Not until the government temporarily banned the village early this year from sharing in forfeiture dollars did the flow of money stop.

Miami-Dade police are investigating claims that a volunteer for Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi insulted the wife of challenger Wayne Slaton and briefly took her cellphone. 1351651455

A Cuban artist is sentenced to nearly two years in jail for harassing a minor last year during a visit to Miami-Dade. 1351649687

Bal Harbour was ordered Tuesday to turn over millions seized by vice cops but not properly accounted for. 1351649266

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Jury rules for fired Golden Beach police whistleblower

A jury this week awarded $233,000 to a Golden Beach police officer who said she was fired for blowing the whistle on misconduct within the department.

Tammy Valdes had complained about harassment from a supervisor, as well as officers “double dipping” by working off-duty security jobs while on duty.

A former detective, Valdes was demoted and at one point was assigned to watch a sinkhole for an entire day, she alleged. She was fired in retaliation in November 2009, according to a lawsuit filed by attorneys Michael Feiler and Martin Leach.

An eight-person jury on Wednesday awarded her $158,000 in back pay, plus $75,000 for pain and suffering. Golden Beach must also pay her attorneys’ fees. Valdes can also return to her job.

“It’s obvious Golden Beach was being run like a lawless town out of the Old West,” Feiler said. “The jury sent the message that this type of behavior is not acceptable in the 21st century.”

The eight-day civil trial featured testimony from a host of city officials and employees, including former police chief Jim Skinner.

The allegations of double dipping resulted in the arrest last year of three Golden Beach officers, who are awaiting trial on charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. The tiny town, located on a 1.3-mile stretch along A1A just south of the Broward-Dade line, had at the time 19 full-time sworn officers.

An attorney representing Golden Beach, Jeffrey Hochman, said the town will consider an appeal.

“We were disappointed with the outcome obviously, and we’re going to look at our options,” Hochman said.

Miami-Dade police are investigating claims that a volunteer for Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi insulted the wife of challenger Wayne Slaton and briefly took her cellphone. 1351651455

A Cuban artist is sentenced to nearly two years in jail for harassing a minor last year during a visit to Miami-Dade. 1351649687

Bal Harbour was ordered Tuesday to turn over millions seized by vice cops but not properly accounted for. 1351649266

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South Florida cantors get ready for High Holy Days

Scattered sheet music covers the coffee table in Cantor Rachelle Nelson’s office at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest. A chart on a small white board organizes the tasks left to do in preparation for the High Holy Days.

Step into Cantor Julie Jacobs’ office in Miami’s Beth David Congregation and the scene is similar: sheet music of Beth Schafer’s In This House is scattered on Jacobs’ desk. Soon, the high-pitched voices of about 20 children in the temple’s youth choir singing In This House fill the synagogue’s hallways.

Farther south in Homestead, Eilat Schmalbach rehearses Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers accompanied by a pianist.

And in Coral Gables, Cantorial Soloist Jodi Rozental and the temple’s choir go through a six-and-a-half-hour rehearsal to prepare for the High Holy Days.

Across South Florida, cantors and cantorial soloists are getting ready to sing prayer songs during the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at their synagogues.

“There just is an enormous amount of music for the High Holy Days,” said Rozental. “We go through it page by page, song by song. We rehearse it. We tweak it. We perfect it.”

Rosh Hashana, or New Year, is followed by ten days of inner reflection on how to be a better person in the coming year. The High Holy Days end on Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, when many fast and attend the evening Kol Nidre service.

Cantors and cantorial soloists are the musical directors at synagogues. They manage the choir and sing year-round services as well as at events such as bat and bar mitzvah, weddings and funerals. They are also responsible for the musical programs at a temple – from arranging string quartets for the Kol Nidre to reaching out to youths in congregation and developing their musical abilities.

“Cantors should see their work as a calling,” said Nelson. “We are the liturgists. At least 80 percent of Jewish prayer is sung. Someone has to be well-trained and have a beautiful voice.”

Cantors earn the title by going to a school that invests, or ordains, cantors. Cantorial soloists carry out the same duties as a cantor but they have not been officially ordained.

Here are the stories of six cantors and cantorial soloists who are preparing for the upcoming High Holy Days:

A community role model

When Temple Beth Am Cantor Rachelle Nelson would go to Publix with her daughters, the three played a game: The children tested their mother on how many people she knows from the congregation and how many of their names she would remember.

“A lot of people got called ‘honey’ and ‘sweetheart’,” said Nelson, 56.

To be a cantor means to be responsible for all the musical aspects of the temple. But it also means more than that, said Nelson.

“When we walk outside the home, we are also a role model in the community. We have to live by the highest standards.”

Nelson, of Palmetto Bay, was invested as a cantor at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and at the time served as the cantor at Temple Israel of Greater Miami, making her the first female cantor in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Her musical background – she holds a bachelor’s in music education and theory composition from the University of Miami – has also led her to write music and release three CDs. Some churches use her music in their services as well.

Kids with and without disabilities make art together at three Miami-Dade parks. 1351535376

Candidates offer impressive resumes of civic involvement. 1351522178

Bal Harbour’s police force has gone after drug gangs operating far outside the village’s borders, confiscating millions — and alarming the feds.

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