When a Miami Beach marine patrol officer was sitting in his boat near the unit’s headquarters at the Maurice Gibb Memorial Park pier late last month, he noticed something unusual on the nearby dock: Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez arguing with a local boater.
The officer quickly turned on his body-worn camera to capture their interaction. A second officer, who was returning from lunch, also noticed the dispute and walked over to try to intervene.
The newly released body-camera footage, which shows the freshman commissioner telling a boater he isn’t “man enough” and grilling a marine patrol officer about boating laws, is emblematic of Suarez’s confrontational approach as he pursues an ambitious agenda during his first year in office.
Since his election in November, Suarez has been relentless in his quest to crack down on people who live on boats in Biscayne Bay and to address other “quality of life” issues like homelessness — and has quickly found himself at odds both with members of the public who oppose his initiatives and with longtime city administrators he has maligned, ranging from the fire chief to the parking director.