By Corporal Brian Schnell, Public Information Officer

“This is awesome” said Jennifer Gray of WTVJ channel 6, South Florida’s NBC affiliate, who was on hand to cover the city’s recent March of Dimes fundraiser.  Officer Cary Brizuela spearheaded a unique money making idea, aimed at raising money for the Miami-Dade/Monroe Chapter of March of Dimes.  The event was held on Friday April 3, 2009.  During the event city employees (of ALL ranks) were allowed to purchase arrest warrants for ANY other employee, that’s right NOBODY was immune – not even the Mayor! 

Precisely at 1:30p.m., several uniformed officers, from the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, began to “sweep” City Hall, “arresting” all who had warrants for their detention.  These were no ordinary arrests though.  First, the “prisoners” were made to wear a classic black and white striped uniform then they were flex-cuffed and detained.  Once in custody, their warrant and charges were read aloud for all to hear – and the charges were good!  Some were charged with “mopery” (what ever that is), while others were charges with a variety of impersonation crimes.  Vice Mayor Thaler, for example, was charged with “impersonating a beach tourist”, a very justifiable allegation.

At about three o’clock, the channel 6 news crew followed officers to the east end of the fourth floor where Mayor Norman Edelcup was apprehended without incident.  He was then paraded through the fourth floor, and through the police station lobby, all while the news camera rolled.  There was not an occupied seat on the fourth floor, EVERY employee stood to watch “the boss” get hauled off to jail.  After being booked into our jail, the Mayor was interviewed by Jennifer Gray, and photographed for public record.

For sure, the best part of the day was the fact that the city employees donated $5.00 for each warrant and $10.00 to “get out of jail”, and some employees gave a little extra.  At days end, nearly $2,000.00 was raised for this worthwhile cause, and everybody felt good about it.  NBC 6 aired this wonderful story on the evening news, and all those involved with the cause were extremely proud and delighted.  The news story was funny and heartwarming at the same time.  Laughter could be heard watching the Mayor and others take the “walk of shame”, but the highlight was seeing the precious face of Officer Katie Turner’s baby “Grace Turner”, who has already overcome numerous challenges herself in her first 6 months of life.  A prideful smile was all one could express as Katie proudly held Grace, and praised the March of Dimes for all they do.

And yes, it is true that the highest “bounty” of all went out for the capture and release of developer Jerry Kaufman of Global Marketing.  His wife pledged plenty to keep him in jail, but Jerry’s good friends came through and bailed him out in time for the weekend.