Photo by Miami Police Department
Audio By Carbonatix
In May 2023, several months after the Miami Police Department (MPD) fired Javier Ortiz — the city’s most controversial cop — following years of misconduct, he quietly returned to the force. Under a settlement he struck with the department, Ortiz was reinstated to a nighttime desk job, agreed to surrender his service weapon, and promised to retire on November 7, 2025.
Checks watch.
It’s now November 7, 2025. And Ortiz is, predictably, refusing to go quietly.
In a complaint filed against the City of Miami on November 6, the former police captain claims that the city breached the non-disparagement clause of its settlement agreement when city officials made “disparaging remarks” about him — for instance, in October 2023 when city commissioner Joe Carollo allegedly called Ortiz “the most corrupt cop in America” during a radio broadcast and in February 2025, when city attorney George Wysong allegedly called Ortiz “a former, well, an almost former police captain.”
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The complaint alleges that city officials’ statements “constitute clear violations of the non-disparagement clause” of the agreement.
Screenshot via City of Miami TV
“There exists proper grounds for rescission of the contract,” the complaint (attached at the bottom of this story) reads. “Plaintiff’s right to continued employment beyond November 7, 2025 is dependent upon the legal effect of Defendant’s breach of the Settlement Agreement.”
It adds: “Specific performance is necessary to prevent the irreparable harm that would result from Plaintiff’s forced retirement.”
Neither the city nor Ramon Hernandez, the Miami-based attorney who filed the complaint on Ortiz’s behalf, responded to New Times‘ request for comment.
Over his nearly 20-year career, Ortiz has racked up a laundry list of complaints alleging abuse of power, prejudice, and excessive force.
An MPD officer since 2004, Ortiz logged more than 50 citizen complaints, 20 use-of-force incidents, and three suspensions, all while ascending the ranks. New Times has chronicled the rise and fall of the longtime police union boss, recapping dozens of alleged infractions against him, from doxxing private citizens to breaking a woman’s wrist during Art Basel.
Ortiz, a white-Hispanic officer, made national headlines in 2020 when he claimed during a city meeting that he was “a Black male or a Negro” under the “one drop rule,” an antiquated racial classification system.
Among other disciplinary actions, Ortiz was suspended in 2020 amid an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the FBI involving current and former MPD officers who’d complained that Ortiz had “engaged in a pattern of abuse and bias against minorities, primarily African Americans.”
It surprised just about everyone when an accusation of violating the department’s overtime policy finally did him in back in September 2022, with the newly appointed chief Manny Morales firing Ortiz in one of his first notable moves in the position.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.
