Major Steven Feldman, a long-serving Miami Beach police commander who was put on paid leave during a 2023 FBI inquiry, is once again being talked about as a possible successor to Chief Wayne Jones. Federal and state prosecutors passed on criminal charges, but an internal affairs review determined that Feldman and several colleagues had shared sexually explicit material via WhatsApp after files were first flagged on a cloud service. The case, now resurfacing as leadership conversations heat up, is reigniting questions about promotions, transparency and discipline inside the department.
Feldman joined the Miami Beach Police Department in 2000 and currently serves as a major in Criminal Investigations. He is listed on the city’s leadership page and works out of the department’s main offices at 1100 Washington Avenue, according to the City of Miami Beach. That municipal profile outlines a career that has included patrol, robbery and technical-services assignments and confirms his current title and contact details, helping explain why Feldman’s name routinely surfaces when the department talks about future leadership.
How the federal and internal probes unfolded
The investigation started in 2021 after Dropbox flagged a folder that contained material later referred to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and then to federal agents. The FBI opened a probe that included, sources say, a search warrant served at Feldman’s home. Federal prosecutors and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to file criminal charges. Miami Beach internal affairs investigators concluded that officers had exchanged hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos via WhatsApp, including some sent while on duty, and recommended administrative discipline instead of criminal filing, according to the Miami Herald.
Where the chief’s office stands
Chief Wayne Jones took over the department in 2023 and has since reshaped his leadership team through staffing moves and promotions. Jones was appointed by the city in mid-2023, and the current leadership roster now lists Feldman as part of the chief’s executive team. Those personnel decisions, along with how the department handled the matter involving Feldman and other officers, have drawn scrutiny from elected officials, union leaders and watchdogs, according to reporting by CBS Miami.
Discipline, promotions and internal politics
Although the U.S. Attorney’s Office and local prosecutors declined to charge Feldman, department records show he received a letter of reprimand in February 2024 and had previously received a written warning tied to an unrelated 2017 incident. During the probe, several internal affairs investigators were reassigned, prompting concern among some current and former investigators that politics or personnel protection may have influenced the outcome. The police union publicly defended the officers involved and denounced the internal inquiry as politically motivated, according to the Miami Herald.
Any formal move toward choosing a new chief would put a spotlight on how the city vets candidates and weighs past administrative findings against long police careers. Commissioners, the city manager and community leaders are likely to zero in on transparency in discipline, the independence of internal affairs and whether the department’s promotion practices are strong enough to protect public trust…