Law And Disorder.
Bay Harbor Islands, a town south of Broward County of about 6000 (six thousand) residents, has a police chief debacle. The island town in Dade County, FL, is not precisely teaming with bank robberies like Boston Massachusettes, but robbers are there.
The robbers, cunningly, dress up in city-issued uniforms, masquerading as law enforcement during the day and carrying out their criminal activities at night. Amid this, Bay Harbor’s double-dipping Police Captain Lindsley Noel has been promoted to chief, leaving some residents deeply concerned.
According to Bay Harbor Bay Harbor Islands Police Sergeant Michael LaMantia, who turned whistle-blower, they fired him unjustly in 2022. In 2022, while working in internal affairs, Sergeant Michael LaMantia opened an internal affairs investigation into Captain Lindsley Noel’s off-duty work.
The IA investigation showed that then Captain Lindsley Noel double-dipped between 2017 and 2019 — earning over $36,000 in off-duty work while on the clock for the town.
Between 2017 and 2019, Captain Lindsley Noel handled the off-duty details.
In a retaliatory move, the Bay Harbor Island Police Department unjustly fired Sergeant Michael LaMantia, who had blown the whistle on Captain Noel’s double-dipping.
The subsequent administrative investigation confirmed LaMantia’s allegations, but instead of addressing the issue, the town promoted Captain Lindsley Noel to Chief. LaMantia’s case went to arbitration, where his termination was reduced to a one-year suspension, “a clear sign of the injustice he faced.”
Undeterred by the injustice, Sergeant LaMantia is now suing the town of Bay Harbor Island under the Florida Whistleblower Act. This legal action underscores the gravity of the situation and the need for justice to prevail.
A Bay Harbor Island “internal affairs probe in 2022 sustained allegations that LaMantia harassed and made misogynistic and racist remarks to subordinates. However, LaMantia has refuted the complaints as a bogus attempt to undermine his authority as a shift leader.”
