Troubled Surfside PD brings back ex-chief, sues former top cops
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Surfside Town Hall. Photo: Martin Vassolo/Axios
Surfside has had four different police chiefs in the past 14 months.
- Two of them are now being sued over severance pay and another has been tapped to take back his old job.
Why it matters: The tiny town north of Miami Beach — which attracted notoriety for the 2021 Champlain Towers South condo collapse — has been mired in scandal and drama for years.
- There have been sexual harassment claims, mass resignations and the arrest of a teenage political activist following a run-in with an elected official.
Catch up quick: The town's had a hard time keeping a police chief in office.
- In October 2023, Chief John Healy retired after eight months on the job.
- In March 2024, his replacement, Chief Antonio Marciante, retired. (He faced sexual harassment claims, which he denied, and questions about the arrest of the political activist, whose charges were later dropped.)
- In December, Chief Enrique "Henry" Doce resigned.
- On Thursday, Edward "Wayne" Holbrook resigned after three weeks on the job.
The latest: The town announced Friday that Doce was reinstated as police chief.
- Mayor Charles Burkett, who lobbied for Doce to get his job back, says the chief resigned because of a disagreement with the town manager over a hiring decision.
- He says Holbrook was "keeping the ship afloat" while Surfside found a permanent replacement, but Local 10 reported that Holbrook resigned because of an unhealthy work environment and tensions with Burkett.
- In a statement, Surfside said it reached out to Doce after Holbrook's resignation. (Burkett said Doce isn't getting a raise.)
Meanwhile, Surfside is suing Healy and Marciante for $45,500 in severance payments the town says were wrongly paid out to them.
- Surfside says a former town manager made the payments without proper authorization.
- "They were given sweetheart deals," Burkett tells Axios.
- An attorney for the ex-chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Friction point: Burkett, Surfside's on-and-off-again mayor since 2006, has been a vocal critic of the police department since he returned to office last year.
- He has made headlines for approaching officers on the street, questioning their tactics, attitude and response times.
- Burkett has publicly feuded with the police union and called on the small department of about 30 officers to increase patrols and speeding enforcement.
What's next: Burkett is proposing to supplement the Surfside police force with Miami-Dade County officers.
- "If our union boss won't endorse this effort and help make it happen then we'll bring in some officers who might."