Miami police chief cites 'you lie, you die' policy in push to fire top brass: report

Internal affairs is recommending two top police officials in Miami be fired for lack of honesty.

"Three days before Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo was officially sworn in, he drew a line in the sand to the city's command staff: 'You lie, You die,' warned the incoming chief, suggesting changes were coming within the department," the Miami Herald reported Friday. "That same morning, Nerly Papier, one of the city's top-ranked female police officers, a cop who grew up in the department working her way from a job as a temp to become Little Havana NET commander, hit a curb with her city-issued SUV. She blew out two tires, then continued to drive the vehicle, damaging its rims on her way to the office."

"Now, Papier and her husband Ronald Papier, the city's deputy chief and acting chief for two months during the transition to Acevedo, are fighting to hang onto their their jobs. The couple were suspended two weeks after Acevedo's swearing in on April 2. By the middle of May, an Internal Affairs investigation recommended they be fired for not following the proper chain of command after the SUV accident," the newspaper reported. "And despite the city refusing to say if any others were punished for alleged involvement in Nerly Papier's crash, the Miami Herald has learned that seven other officers — almost everyone who had anything to do with the accident and its aftermath — have received written reprimands."

Lack of candor about the incident is reportedly at the heart of the issue for Nerly Papier.

"In Nerly Papier's letter of reprimand from Internal Affairs, investigators determined she fudged the truth on several occasions, never acknowledged that there were pedestrians on the sidewalk when her SUV rode over the curb and did not mention she ran two red lights on her way to the station after the accident. The report also says that Nerly Papier told the commander in charge of property that she had two flat tires and never mentioned she was in an accident," the newspaper reported.

The newspaper also reported that why Ronald Papier is facing firing "remains unclear."

Read the full report.