The Miami-Dade Police Department is one of America’s ten largest. From policing the Rickenbacker Causeway to maintaining aircraft and forensics labs, it is the backbone of law enforcement across the county of 2.6 million residents as well as millions of visitors each year.
But soon, the department will be transformed into a new entity, a Sheriff’s Department, similar to the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the other 66 counties in Florida. For the first time since 1966, the agency and its 4,500 employees will be independent and headed by an elected sheriff, instead of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the Miami-Dade County Commission. The job, currently nonpartisan, will be on the 2024 ballot with Democratic and Republican candidates.
Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez, the current MDPD director, is the leading candidate for the job at a time when many law enforcement issues are becoming politicized.
How will he approach policing in Miami’s multi-ethnic community? How will the department handle new ‘permitless carry’ laws? And what about immigration issues?
It’s an episode you won’t want to miss. Subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice, or listen below
