BOCA RATON, Fla. — Before Boca Raton Police Chief Michele Miuccio was removed from her position last week, the city's police union conducted a survey in August 2025, which resulted in criticism of the police chief's performance.
The survey of more than 100 officers ranked her “overall performance” a 3.8 out of 10. It’s the second survey WPTV has uncovered describing frustrations from rank-and-file employees directed at leadership over two years before her removal from the job last week.
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City Manager Mark Sohaney said the city had been reviewing its leadership structure over the past five months, leading to a shake-up within the executive team and the police department.
A city spokesperson said the survey did not specifically play a role in the decision to remove Miuccio, a nearly 40-year veteran of the force who worked her way from Patrol Officer to Police Chief for nearly five years.
“The leadership change within the Police Department was not disciplinary in nature and was not based on any one factor, including this survey,” said AnnMarie Connolly, a spokesperson for the city of Boca Raton. “The survey was conducted independently and did not capture input from the entire department therefore, it should not be characterized as a full or definitive measure of the department-wide sentiment.”
The Boca Raton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #35, serving as the union serving the city’s police officers, declined to comment about the survey or the leadership change at the Department. Miuccio didn’t respond to WPTV’s calls or text messages about the change or the survey, which also criticized Assistant Chief Elizabeth Rodgers and Assistant Chief Juan Pijuan.
Rodgers, who was promoted to acting chief, was given an “overall performance” score of 4.6 out of 10. A spokesperson for the police department referred us to a statement from the City Manager’s Office, which said the city manager had “full confidence” in her ability to lead the department during this time.
Pijuan, who retired a few weeks ago from the department, received an “overall performance” score of 4.2, and said he was surprised when he heard Miuccio was leaving the city. Pijuan said he did see a copy of the union’s survey, but it was hard to get feedback on what he needed to change to increase his “leadership” evaluation from a 4.2 to a higher score.
“It was more of a bash than anything else,” Pijuan said to WPTV reporter Ethan Stein. “I reviewed it to see what I can improve, but there was nothing I could discern from it."
He also said he had nothing but love and respect for the men and women of the Boca Raton Police Department and that they do so to keep our community safe.
A year before the Union Survey was conducted, the city hired a consultant to collect comments from the police department employees. Although some positive comments, the report mostly had complaints from employees about the department’s leadership, communication and pay.
You can read the report here:
