# Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO), formerly known as the Dade County Sheriff's Office (1836–1957), Dade County Public Safety Department (1957–1981), Metro-Dade Police Department (1981–1997), and Miami-Dade Police Department (1997–2025), is a law enforcement agency serving Miami-Dade County, Florida. The department is still often referred by its former name, the Metro-Dade Police or simply Metro.
The MDSO is the largest sheriff’s office in the southeastern United States and operates out of eight district stations throughout Miami-Dade County. MDSO has several specialized bureaus and is internationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and by the Florida Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation at the state level. MDSO’s headquarters are located in Doral, Florida.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s deputies wear taupe/brown uniforms. Their vehicles are green and white.

## History

The Dade County Sheriff's Office was created in 1836 to serve the newly created County of Dade, which originally consisted of the area comprising the present-day counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin. In the early years, the entire area was policed by as few as three deputies on horseback, and Dade's sheriffs were appointed by the governor. In 1899, the office of the sheriff became an elected position. By 1915, the jurisdiction area had been reduced to its present size of approximately 2,139 square miles.
In 1957, the metropolitan form of government was established, and the Dade County Sheriff's Office was subsequently renamed the Public Safety Department. The Public Safety Department's organizational structure, as determined by the metropolitan charter, included responsibility for police and fire protection, the jail and stockade, civil defense, animal control, and motor vehicle inspection. In 1960, the Public Safety Department also assumed responsibility for police operations at the Port of Miami and Miami International Airport. By 1966, the Public Safety Department had approximately 850 sworn officers in its ranks. That year a long-standing controversy over the selection/election procedure for choosing a county sheriff was resolved by voter mandate. Subsequently, non-elected sheriffs were appointed by the county manager as "Director of the Public Safety Department and Sheriff of Metropolitan Dade County."
In 1973, the responsibility for running the county's jails was transferred to the newly created Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. By that year, the Public Safety Department had also been divested of all other non-police responsibilities in order to concentrate entirely on law enforcement services. In July 1981, the Public Safety Department was renamed the Metro-Dade Police Department.
In September 1997, voters decided to change the county's name to Miami-Dade County. As such, the department was renamed the Miami-Dade Police Department the following December.

### Transition to a sheriff's office

In 2018, Florida voters—including 58% of Miami-Dade voters—approved a constitutional amendment requiring every county in the state to elect a handful of "constitutional officers," including a sheriff.
On November 6, 2024, MDPD Assistant Director Rosie Cordero-Stutz became sheriff-elect after defeating Miami-Dade's Chief of Public Safety James Reyes. Cordero-Stutz assumed office on January 7, 2025. The transition to a Sheriff's Office is expected to be complete in 2028 per House Bill 1595.

### Controversies and incidents

In August 1968, roughly coinciding with the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, rioting broke out in Liberty City. Unable to control the situation, the Florida Highway Patrol and National Guard were brought in. Claiming they were being attacked by snipers, the police killed three people. No one was injured by sniper fire, and no weapons were found.$^{:202}$
On September 13, 2007, four Miami-Dade Police Department officers were shot by a suspect with an AK-47, resulting in the death of one officer, Jose Somohano. Another officer suffered a serious leg injury. The suspect, Shawn Sherwin Labeet, fled the scene but was found in an apartment complex later that day. He was cornered in a poolhouse bathroom by members of Miami-Dade Police Special Response Team (equivalent to SWAT), and was shot and killed when he refused to drop a pistol he was holding.
On the morning of Thursday, January 20, 2011, two Miami-Dade Police officers were shot and killed by a homicide suspect, Johnny Sims. According to Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus, the MDPD fugitive warrant team were assisting the U.S. Marshals Service in the city of Miami in apprehending the suspect, for whom a murder warrant had been issued. Police arrived at the suspect's mother's house and made contact with a member of the family, when the suspect surprised police by opening fire. Detective Roger Castillo, a 21-year veteran, was shot in the head and died at the scene, and Detective Amanda Haworth, a 23-year veteran, was shot several times and taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in grave condition where she underwent emergency surgery there, but died shortly thereafter. The suspect, Sims, was shot and killed by another detective at the scene.
In December 2019, the Miami-Dade Police Department came under scrutiny after a shootout in Miramar. MDPD officers, as well as police from other agencies, responded to fleeing robbers who carjacked a United Parcel Service van and took the UPS driver hostage. After a car chase, the MDPD killed the two suspects, the UPS driver, and an innocent bystander. The department received criticism for its officers' behavior, which included firing into open traffic and using civilian vehicles for cover. A total of 19 officers fired guns during the shootout, including 15 MDPD officers, 3 Miramar Police Department officers, and 1 Pembroke Pines Police Department officer.

## Organization

MDSO's Sheriff stations include:
* Northwest District Station (Miami Lakes)
* Northside District Station (West Little River)
* Midwest District Station (Doral)
* South District Station (Cutler Ridge)
* Kendall District Station (Kendall)
* Intracoastal District Station (North Miami Beach)
* Airport District Station (Miami International Airport, Florida)
* Hammocks District Station (The Hammocks)
MDSO's Contracted municipalities include:
* Town of Miami Lakes (1)
* Village of Palmetto Bay (4)
* Town of Cutler Bay (4)

## Demographics

Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of MDSO:
* Male: 75.58%
* Female: 24.42%
* White: 20.02%
* Hispanic: 58.11%
* African-American/Black: 20.58%
* Other: 1.29%

## Ranks and insignia

* Title
* Sheriff
* Undersheriff
* Assistant Sheriff
* Deputy Chief or Division Chief
* Major
* Captain
* Lieutenant
* Sergeant
* Deputy Sheriff/Detective
All rank insignia are worn on the collars of the shirt, except for sergeant, which is worn on each sleeve, below the department patch.

## Specialized units

* Arson Unit
* Auto Theft Unit
* Aviation Unit
* Bomb Squad
* Bicycle Response Team
* K9 Unit
* Citizens Volunteer Program
* Communications Bureau
* Forensic Services Bureau
* Crime Stoppers – (305) 471-TIPS
* Court Services Bureau
* Drug Abuse Resistance Education
* Economic Crimes Bureau
* Warrants Bureau (assists US Marshal Service)
* General Investigations Unit (G.I.U.)
* Homeland Security Bureau
* Homicide Bureau
* Information Technology Services Division (ITSD)
* Professional Compliance Bureau
* Marine Patrol
* Mounted patrol
* Motors Traffic Unit
* Public Information and Education Bureau
* Narcotics Bureau
* Neighborhood Resource Unit (N.R.U.)
* Organized Crime Section
* Personnel Management Bureau
* Police Legal Bureau
* Property and Evidence Section
* Public Corruption and Criminal Conspiracy Unit
* Rapid Deployment Force
* Robbery Bureau
* Robbery Intervention Detail (RID)
* Cargo Theft Task Force
* Street Terror Offender Program (S.T.O.P.)
* Special Patrol Bureau (Motorcycle, D.U.I. Certified)
* Special Response Team (S.R.T.)
* Special Victims Bureau (Sexual Battery & Domestic Crimes)
* Strategic Policing Operations Response Team (SPORT)
* Miami-Dade Public Safety Training Institute
* Underwater Recovery Unit
* Southeast Regional Domestic Security Task Force
* Environmental Crimes Unit

## Popular culture

The department has been depicted in a number of television shows, films, and video games:
* CSI Miami
* Miami Vice
* Bad Boys as Miami Metro Police
* Dexter as Miami Metro Police
* Burn Notice
* Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Video games series, parodied as the Vice City Police Department.
* Grand Theft Auto VI as the Vice-Dale Police Department
* Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as South Dade Police
* Cocaine Cowboys
* Miami SWAT
* Casino Royale
* Driv3r
* Pain & Gain
* Kung Fury
* Jane the Virgin
* Super Fuzz
* Newton's Cradle ("لعبة نيوتن")
* The Crew
* Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War
* Ace Combat Assault Horizon