Police Academy
Crybaby: I am a cadet at Miami Dade College School of Justice, and the article about basic training director Richard Moss and his "ugly past" is full of bullock ("School for Cops," Francisco Alvarado, March 17). The cadet who was complaining is full of crap. When you sign up, you should know that any police academy provides military-like training, which by the way is way cruel. If cadets can't run up and down some steps and get hit with water balloons and water guns without complaining, they shouldn't get a gun and badge at the end. They are going to be in far worse situations out in the field.
Nick
Rip-off: Most of the instructors left the school when the City of Miami opened its new academy downtown. The city's academy is far superior to Miami Dade North Academy, and the instruction received by the recruits at MDNA is mostly by former officers who worked in some of the worst departments in Dade County and have been fired. They are stealing these recruits' money.
Anonymous
Bad apples: Both MDC's and City of Miami's academies have more than questionable people working for them. Unfortunately, in any business, but especially in businesses that award power, there will be tragic accidents, mistakes, corruption, greed, and jealousy. What's sad is half the people who are ruffling the feathers have far from stellar work histories. Nobody is in any position to throw stones here.
Anonymous
Indirect quote: While I do not disagree with the article's content, Mr. Alvarado never spoke with me, so I am puzzled how he is able to quote me directly. Rather, Mr. Alvarado constructed commentary from email communications he must have received through open records requests. My dealings with Richard Moss, to my relief, ended in 2006. This is an issue I do not wish to revisit.
Francie Chambers
Track record: This article is not surprising at all. During Moss's reign of destruction at the Woodstock Police Department in Georgia, the department lost more than 20 good officers and became a place officers did not want to work. When he was finally fired, the department was able to mend some issues, but it is still working through many of his lingering blunders. The only good thing he accomplished was to be a walking, talking example of how not to be a supervisor. Sorry, Florida, but Georgia was tired of him and was glad to see him leave.
Anonymous
Honor roll: Really? So this big d-bag can teach kids to grow up and be d-bag cops too? Next time try hiring someone who has respect and honor, not only for their badge but also for themselves.
Bonita
Felon Power
Turning away: I have firsthand knowledge that what you say in your column about Rick Scott's racist policy to ban felons from voting is true ("Uncle Luke," Luther Campbell, March, 17). I have been teaching juveniles being tried as adults at Turner Guilford Knight for the past 12 years. It appears to me that very intelligent young men are seduced by the "steady rotation of dope boys on the corner." These young men are predominantly black, without one Anglo child in the mix. Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown, Naranja, and other crime-infested municipalities exist because our governments want them to.
Esther Perez
Other side: The McDuffie riots? What about all the innocent people who were killed or hurt by the rioters who took advantage of the situation to loot and steal? What color were they? Did anyone stand trial for the killing of the young Hispanic man pulled from his car and smashed in the head with a cinder block several times?
Carlos Cruz
Make them pay: I applaud Governor Scott for making it harder on felons to have their civil responsibilities restored. Why should a felon be able to vote or hold a state, county, and or city job without proving he or she is truly reformed? The jail term is the debt to society, not a right to have the slate clean when you're released. I hope Scott forces every prison in Florida to require all inmates serving time to finish high school, pick up a trade, and work to pay society for the cost we are incurring during their stay in prison.
Anonymous
Correction
A March 17 story in the Miami Music Guide incorrectly stated the Pretty Lights Showcase at the Fillmore Miami Beach was sold out. Tickets are still available for the March 24 concert for $34.50 to $48 plus fees via livenation.com.
