A Miami Beach police officer who once faced a federal child pornography investigation is reportedly being considered for promotion to the department's police chief.

Steven Feldman is said to be one of Police Chief Wayne Jones' top picks for a successor as Jones looks to retire in 2028.

But Feldman was under FBI investigation in 2023 for possession of child pornography after Dropbox flagged three files he allegedly uploaded for containing possible 'child sex abuse materials,' the Miami Herald reports.

He was placed on administrative leave at the time, as federal agents served a search warrant at his home, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The FBI ultimately declined to bring charges against Feldman, as did the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Meanwhile, an internal investigation continued at the Miami Beach Police Department.

Investigators there then discovered that Feldman and three other cops exchanged hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos on WhatsApp - sometimes while they were on duty.

Some of those messages contained child pornography, but none of those sent by Feldman, according to the Miami Herald.

The federal investigation into Feldman's messages began when Dropbox identified a folder in September 2021 containing possible 'child sex abuse material' including at least one video and one image, according to the Internal Affairs report obtained by the Herald.

Dropbox then notified the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which referred the case to law enforcement.

Federal investigators soon discovered the content in question had been uploaded by an account with the name 'Steven Feldman,' which was later found to be associated with the cop.

It remains unclear why federal investigators ultimately chose not to charge Feldman.

But the Internal Affairs probe concluded that the files flagged by Dropbox had been sent to Feldman by other police officers on WhatsApp in 2016 and 2018.

Investigators said Feldman and the three other officers frequently exchanged sexually explicit pictures and videos on the platform between 2016 and 2021. 

The report said Feldman sent sexually explicit content in at least 11 instances, including six in which he was on duty and two while he was on off-duty details.

The exact nature of the content he exchanged was not clear from the report.

Still, the commander who initially oversaw the internal affairs investigation told Police Chief Wayne Jones he thought Feldman should be demoted or even fired, two sources familiar with the discussions told the Herald. 

Not long after that conversation, sources said, Jones moved the commander along with several others who were assisting the FBI in its own investigation out of the Internal Affairs unit - fueling speculation Jones was seeking to protect Feldman from any serious discipline. 

'Everybody with any knowledge of the case got transferred out [of Internal Affairs],' one source said. 'That is unheard of, not only in Internal Affairs, but also in criminal investigations in general.' 

Feldman and the three other officers who exchanged messages ultimately only had to agree to accept 'letters of reprimand' for violating the police department's social media policy.

A few months later, Jones also promoted Feldman to major, making him part of the chief executive's team.

But Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department insisted the department acted appropriately.

He said the chief's decision to reassign IA investigators was part of a broader batch of reassignments Jones initiated seven weeks after becoming chief in September 2023 - which he said were unrelated to the pornography investigation.

'These assignments were implemented as part of a broader organizational strategy focused on professional development, leadership exposure and operational continuity across multiple divisions - not solely within Internal Affairs,' Bess said.

He also noted that even after the FBI and US Attorney's Office closed their case in late 2023, Jones directed an additional review by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, which 'concluded that no criminal violations occurred under state law, and recommended the matter be handled administratively.

'Although both external agencies concluded that no criminal wrongdoing occurred, the Miami Beach Police Department conducted a comprehensive Internal Affairs investigation to determine whether departmental policies had been violated,' Bess told the Herald.

'That investigation concluded that Major Feldman violated departmental policy and disciplinary action was imposed in accordance with established procedures.' 

Bobby Hernandez, president of the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police - which represented the three other officers in the messaging scandal - also said he viewed the Internal Affairs investigation a 'political hit job.'

'What they did to him is flat-out wrong,' Hernandez said.

He acknowledged that the allegations against Feldman seemed 'horrible' at first, but emphasized he was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

Hernandez also noted that he has known Feldman since he was a teenager in the department's 'explorer' program for young people interested in a career in law enforcement - and said that today Feldman is 'probably the smartest individual on the command staff.

'I think that's probably why they tried to knock him off the top,' Hernandez suggested.

Feldman first joined the police force in 2000 and rose through the ranks over his more than two decades with the department.

He hasn't been disciplined beyond the letter of reprimand in 2024 and a written warning in a separate incident in 2017.

But 10 years earlier, an Arab police officer accused Feldman and other cops of using racist slurs and making derogatory comments. 

Feldman denied the allegations and the Internal Affairs case was dismissed as 'unsubstantiated.'

In 2015, more than a dozen of Feldman's emails were also flagged as being inappropriate during a sweeping internal investigation into racist and sexist messages by numerous officers, but he was not disciplined in that case.

Two years later, though, Feldman received a written warning for leaving his department-issued gun, a personal gun, a department drone and laptop unsecured in his police vehicle, which was burglarized overnight outside his home.

When Feldman was later promoted to major just months after the child pornography probe, it was 'based on established merit and qualifications,' Bess said.

The police department spokesman would not comment on the possibility that Feldman could succeed Chief Jones - saying the decision 'falls under the sole authority of the Miami Beach City Manager.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Feldman, Jones, the Miami Beach Police Department and the FBI for comment.