Photos via Twitter/Miami Police Department
Since their hiring in the mid-2000s, detective Wanda Jean Baptiste and Lieutenant Brandon Lanier rose through the ranks at the Miami Police Department (MPD), eventually taking on roles as internal affairs investigators. Both were tasked with probing wrongdoing among MPD employees; in recent years, Lanier was promoted to lead the internal affairs section.
But after coming forth with information about alleged corruption and misconduct among police officials, including MPD's top cop, the two officers claim they saw their careers and reputations destroyed.
In a pair of whistleblower lawsuits filed on April 3 against the City of Miami, Jean Baptiste and Lanier claim Police Chief Manuel Morales relentlessly retaliated against them after they called out corruption involving Morales and two high-profile MPD officers. The department reprimanded and demoted Jean Baptiste and Lanier and even contacted the feds to "blacklist" the officers from employment, the lawsuits allege.
"It is both illegal and tragic that dedicated police officers have been demoted and had their careers destroyed because they refuse to go along with attempts to manipulate Internal Affairs investigations in the City of Miami," attorney Michael Pizzi wrote in a statement to New Times.
City of Miami maintains that Jean Baptiste and Lanier's demotions were justified and that the pair are pursuing legal action out of frustration with the disciplinary action.
"This is now...
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