The Anti-Social podcast asked all 17 sheriff candidates to come on the show and answer questions about their top three priorities, gun safety, community policing and other issues. We got seven – six Republicans and one Democrat.
Listen to our show where we summarize our impressions of the candidates or dig deeper by listening to our one-on-one interviews with the candidates at the end of this article.
Miami-Dade County voters — for the first time since the late 1960s — will cast a ballot for an elected sheriff to lead the police department, the largest in the Southeast serving 2.8 million people. The primary is Aug. 20 with the winners from each party squaring off in November’s general election.
Up till now, the head of the MDPD has been appointed by the County mayor since the elected sheriff’s office was eliminated 60 years ago because of corruption.
Last year at this time, there wasn’t much drama to the race with Police Director Freddy Ramirez considered the frontrunner. Ramirez dropped out after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 23.
Of the 13 Republicans running, Anti-Social interviewed Mario Knapp, Joseph Aragu, Orly Lopez, Raumen Delarua, Jaspen Bishop and Ignacio Alvarez.
Democrat James Reyes, the successor to Ramirez as police director, is endorsed by Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, and also oversees the Fire Department and the Department of Corrections. The new sheriff’s office will control a $948 million budget.
Reyes said he is not interested in becoming a politician. “The biggest concern that I have, in terms of the transition, is leadership. It will come down to experienced results-driven leadership,” he said.
Alvarez was a police officer for 25 years, including a major in the Special Victims Bureau at MDPD. Talking about results, Alvarez spoke to something citizens can relate to.
“The biggest complaint that I’m getting throughout Miami Dade County is the wait time for police officers,” Alvarez said. “The issue is under-staffing.”
Ruamen De La Rua calls himself the people’s sheriff, serving 26 years with the Marion County Sheriff’s office. We asked him about gun control.
“I’m the only candidate that is the constitutional sheriff candidate,” he said. “I believe in the Second Amendment.”
Mario Knapp, a former major who spent 27 years with the MDPD, spoke about his experience in uniformed and specialized units. He was the commander at the Surfside building collapse. “I’ve had a lot of boots-on-the-ground experience,” he said.
Joseph Aragu knew his audience when he came on Anti-Social, speaking to the top issue for many Key Biscayne residents.
“We know that there’s a lot of problems with our community in regards to traffic,” he said “We have to do something about the craziness with our traffic in Miami Dade County.”
Orly Lopez was about modernization, whether it’s infrastructure or policing. “If I was to tell you the things that I’ve seen in my department, there are things that are still stuck in the 1970s, which is embarrassing for the year 2024,” he said.
There is also a rank-and-file candidate. Jaspen Bishop is working a desk as a uniformed police officer.
“We don’t get to have the budget surplus of the County in case we need extra. So that’s going to be a big problem, he said. “ This is a huge department with a lot of moving parts in it.”
