Miami Police Department

The Miami Police Department (MPD), also known as the City of Miami Police Department, is a full-service municipal law enforcement agency serving Miami, Florida. The Miami Police Department in the Ima Crook Universe (ICU) is based on its real-life counterpart, though there are some slight differences.

### Organizational Structure

The Miami Police Department is separated into four distinct departments: Patrol, Traffic, Vice and Homicide. The departments share the same station and sometimes work closely with each other but each is run independently of the others.

## Miami Police Department

### Notable Members

* Rose McClane (Lieutenant)
* Josė Vasquez (Sergeant)
* Joe Reynolds (Officer)
* Nick Tavarez (Officer)
* James Smith (Officer)
* Arthur McClane (Captain, Deceased)
* Amelia Bright (Officer)
* Diane Watkin (Captain)

### Headquarters

Miami PD Police Station

Once an officer graduates from the Law Enforcement Academy (also referred to as the Police Academy) they're assigned to patrol. Though some officers do end up spending their entire careers in patrol, most have aspirations of eventually working in homicide or SWAT. It's generally understood that officers need to work their way up the departments (from patrol to traffic, then vice, then homicide or SWAT).

The **Chief of Police** heads every police department in the greater Miami Metropolitan Area.

The **Deputy Chief of Police** answers to the Chief of Police and liaises with the captains, acting as a halfway point between them and the Chief of Police.

Each station has a **Captain** who oversees all of the departments within it and is the most senior member at the station.

Each department within a station (patrol, traffic, vice and homicide) has a **Lieutenant** who runs that department and reports to the captain.

Each department also has a **Sergeant.** The number of sergeants in a department depends on the size of that particular department. Vice, for example, is the smallest of the four departments and therefore only has a single sergeant at any one time. However, patrol, the largest of the departments, has several sergeants. Sergeants help to run operations and manage resources out in the field and help take some of the leadership burdens off the lieutenants.

**Detective** is a role specific to homicide that does not feature in any of the other departments. Homicide detectives investigate serious and complex crimes, working with forensic specialists and other law enforcement agencies to solve crimes the average officer could not. Detective is the only rank below captain that does not wear a uniform, instead adopting smart attire. In homicide, one must become a detective before they can advance to sergeant or above.

**Officers** are the most junior position in the Miami Police Department. Officers have no leadership responsibilities and receive orders directly from their sergeant(s) and lieutenant. In traffic and patrol, officers are usually working outside of the station, patrol areas or monitoring traffic until an order or a dispatch call comes in. In vice, officers are often involved in undercover work and drug busts. In homicide, officers are usually interviewing persons of interest, sectioning off crime scenes and arresting suspects.