parked outside
Hard Rock Stadium. ''' 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. 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. Several civil rights organizations planned a protest to show frustration with the nation's unfair political, social, and economic systems. When the situation got out of control,
Florida Highway Patrol and
National Guard were dispatched. Claiming snipers were attacking them, the police killed three civilians. No one was injured by the sniper fire, and no weapons were found. The
1980 Miami riots (also called the
Arthur McDuffie riots) were
race riots that occurred in
Miami,
Florida, United States, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting five
white Dade County Public Safety Department officers in the death of
Arthur McDuffie (December 3, 1946 – December 21, 1979), a Black insurance salesman and
United States Marine Corps lance corporal. McDuffie was beaten to death by four police officers after a traffic stop. After the officers were tried and acquitted on charges including manslaughter and evidence tampering, a riot broke out in the Black neighborhoods of
Overtown and
Liberty City on the night of May 17. Riots continued until May 20, resulting in at least 18 deaths and an estimated $100 million in property damage. In 1981 Dade County settled a civil lawsuit filed by McDuffie's family for $1.1 million. The 1980 Miami riots were the deadliest urban riots in a single city since the
1967 Detroit riot and remained such until the
1992 Los Angeles riots twelve years later. 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 the bathroom at a pool house by the Miami-Dade Police Special Response Team officers (equivalent to
SWAT). He was shot and killed when he refused to drop the pistol that 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 Department Chief James Loftus, the MDPD fugitive warrant team was assisting the
U.S. Marshals Service at
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 officers from other law enforcement agencies, responded against the robbers who
carjacked a
United Parcel Service van and took the 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 at 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. ==Line of duty deaths==