A police aide in Florida is under internal investigation for allegedly saying a black police sergeant looked “like a monkey.”
Pablo Espinoza, who works as a public service aide for the Miami-Dade Police Department, was assigned to “administrative duties” pending the outcome of the investigation.
Espinoza, who is Hispanic, allegedly made the remark to attorney Michael Catalano about his client, Miami-Dade Schools Police Sgt. Tracy Moore, a black woman. Moore had been arrested for drunk driving in July and was at a hearing when Catalano claims Espinoza grabbed him by the shoulder and said, “Your client looks like a monkey sitting there.”
Espinoza is in charge of maintaining the department’s breath-test machines used to test suspected drunk drivers and was present at the hearing, which was being held to determine if Moore would get her driver’s license back.
Catalano said he was “shocked” by the comment. “Nobody talks like that in 2019,” he said.
Catalano told Moore what Espinoza allegedly said, but the remark was not brought up during the September hearing. Catalano afterward texted Espinoza, however, in an attempt to document in writing what happened.
“Pablo. You have 2 hours to [apologize] for saying my [Moore] looks like a monkey or I report it to the director,” Catalano said in a text message. “I was disgusted by that and they have video in the hallway. Apologize and we drop it.”
“I’m apologizing. Done,” Espinoza responded.
Then during an Oct. 7 hearing, Catalano brought the issue back up and got Espinoza to acknowledge that he had made the quip about Moore. The following day the attorney emailed police officials about the issue. He said that Moore wanted Espinoza “fired immediately.”
“My client and I are very upset about this,” Catalano wrote. “How would he even think to say that?”
The police department said in a statement that it was taking the matter seriously.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department takes all complaints seriously and are committed to the highest performance standards and ethical conduct,” the department said. “We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and take pride in a professional level of service and fairness to all.”
