February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The announcement came last week following a number of reports indicating that Timoney, in charge of the department for the past seven years, was coming under pressure from the city’s newly elected mayor.
As it turned out, Timoney’s decision to take his leave came on the same day as newly elected mayor, Tom_s Regalado, was sworn into office. Regalado had pledged during his campaign to remove Timoney from his post.
Timoney, 61, will remain with the city through the end of the year to help with the transition, the Miami Herald reported city officials as stating.
Timoney, who is working on a book about his policing career, is the former Philadelphia police chief and prior to that was one of the most senior officers in the NYPD.
Timoney’s appointment as police chief in Miami was announced in the waning days of 2002. His elevation to the top job in Miami was low key and in stark contrast to the high-profile competition to lead the police force in Los Angeles which had just played out at the time.
Timoney was one of three finalists in a heavily publicized search for a chief in LA. That job eventually went to William Bratton, who himself departed the Los Angeles job in recent days.
Timoney had served as a number two to Bratton when Bratton was police commissioner of New York.
At the time of his appointment to the Miami job, Timoney said that the job would be a big challenge. “It’s tough but doable,” he said at the time.
He was right on that count. Timoney, who began the Miami job in January, ’03, inherited a force that was going through turbulent times.
“Widely respected for his administrative skills, he [Timoney] inherits a department mired in controversy,” the New York Times reported in a story on Timoney’s elevation to the Miami post.
Much of the turmoil centered on allegations of police brutality and insensitivity to minorities.
Timoney, never one to shelter behind a desk, was a prominent and at times controversial Miami chief, but he is generally credited with reducing crime rates in the city and bringing order to the department during his seven years.
“Tom_s Regalado got his way Wednesday even before he was sworn in as Miami’s new mayor when Police Chief John Timoney handed in his resignation,” the Miami Herald stated in an editorial commenting on the Timoney resignation.
“Mayor Regalado, had vowed during the campaign that Mr. Timoney had to go. It’s unfortunate, because the police chief set Miami on the right course during the past seven years, bringing professionalism to the ranks of a city department infamous for its shenanigans,” the editorial said.