Tarnished badges: Opa-locka's troubled police force

Before it can clean up the streets, Opa-locka must first correct the chronic corruption and dysfunction in its police department
BY JULIE K. BROWN

Drug dealers pedal their bicycles up and down the street, sneaking down narrow hallways and hiding in the bushes, waiting for their next deal, or their next victim to shake down, beat up or rob. Doors are pitted with bullet holes, and the children spend their days on a rusty playground, or in the evenings, acting as lookouts for dealers.

This squalid theater in the heart of Opa-locka’s Arabian Nights-themed city, an apartment complex known as the “Back Blues,” has been home to some of the most dangerous drug traffickers in South Florida.

When the FBI launched a sting at the notorious drug den, and later tied its players to a fatal 2010 armored car heist, they discovered to their surprise that one of the alleged operatives at the helm of the Back Blues narcotics ring was an Opa-locka police captain.

Capt. Arthur Balom, 44, accepted bribes, provided the armored car killer with a bulletproof vest and helped sabotage the FBI’s drug sting, according to allegations made in court documents.

The probe that led to Balom’s arrest is only one of many state, federal and local investigations into possible corruption within the Opa-locka Police Department, which has the reputation of being among the most troubled law enforcement agencies in the state.

“I’m 79 now and I’m not going to jail for nobody,” said Clarance Patterson, who as city manager of Opa-locka was in charge of public safety, including the police department. “The things I was being asked to do, I just wouldn’t do. I’m not saying anybody asked me to do anything illegal, but the city and the police department have some serious problems and need cleaning up.’’

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Anonymous

Posted: Sep 14 2012, 9:33 PM

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WTF is an Opa-locka anyway?

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