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Friday Jun 06, 2025
Friday Jun 06, 2025
By day, Miami’s agricultural district stretches like a sunlit tapestry—68,000 acres of fertile land where avocados, mangoes and other crops ripen in the heat. But when night falls, this rural expanse becomes a shadowy hunting ground. Under cover of darkness, produce poachers strike, sometimes making off with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of fruit in a single sweep.
Patrolling this frontier is the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Agricultural & Environmental Crimes Section, a small but specialized section led by people like Sergeant Richard Zahalka—a local son who knows the groves like the back of his hand. With a practiced eye for out-of-place footprints or a broken fence line, he protects the area not just with a badge, but with the instincts of someone raised among these orchards.
Sometimes, those instincts draw his attention to what others might ignore. A branch in the road might seem like random debris to most. But to Sergeant Zahalka, it could be a sign—a literal marker pointing toward theft.
“They’re organized,” he said. “They have guys go in, climb fences, pick avocados and leave them in piles. Then they leave branches in the road, so when the van comes later to pick them up, the driver knows exactly where to go.”
Produce poaching is difficult to detect. During harvest season, the groves are thick with vegetation. There are no streetlights, no porch lamps—just pitch blackness. The perfect cover.
Sergeant Zahalka keeps a photo on his phone from one case several years ago. Thieves had overloaded a 15-foot box truck with avocados. The suspension collapsed under the weight, and the vehicle was abandoned in an orchard. When the farmers returned the next morning, they opened the truck to find tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of fruit inside.
In response, many farms have built high berms to keep trucks out. But even that isn’t foolproof. Poachers have been known to dig out sections of berms, cut through fencing, and slip in undetected. Farmers now often use surveillance cameras—many of which Sergeant Zahalka can access from his phone.
The relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the growers is close, and critical. The Dade County Farm Bureau—the county’s oldest and largest agricultural organization—honored Sergeant Zahalka as its Agricultural Officer of the Year at its 45th annual barbecue in April. He was also named Officer of the Year by the South Dade Chamber of Commerce for his work protecting local farms.
“He’s very involved, and probably knows every farmer out here,” said Jocelyn Guilfoyle, the bureau’s executive director. “There are only a few officers out here, so we truly appreciate what he’s done—and continues to do every day. He knows everything that’s going on and is always dedicated to helping resolve issues.”
Sometimes resolving those issues means reading intent. Deputies can issue civil citations or escalate to felony theft charges, depending on the case.
“We get folks who pull over and pick tomatoes or what have you,” Sergeant Zahalka said. “And then we get those who take steps to hide themselves, go in deep and fill up their vehicles.”
In more serious cases, deputies must proceed with caution. Large-scale theft operations can pose serious risks. In one recent incident, the ringleader of a theft crew was found carrying a loaded handgun.
Since joining the Agricultural and Environmental Crimes Section in November 2013, Sergeant Zahalka has worked a wide range of cases. He helped break up a guava theft ring, led the arrest of a suspect who was stealing and slaughtering horses for meat, and investigated a property owner who kept 220 animals in deplorable conditions. That owner was arrested, and the animals received treatment for malnutrition and other health problems.
In March, Sergeant Zahalka was named the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Distinguished Deputy of the Month—an internal honor that he accepted with humility.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” he said. “Because this is something I love doing. I think you have to have a passion for it.”
His knowledge of agriculture continues to deepen, not just through work and conversations with growers, but through coursework offered by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). He’s taken classes on composting, grafting, irrigation and more.
The Agricultural Section also includes an Agricultural Investigative Unit that handles a range of cases: thefts from nurseries, stolen farming equipment, pilfered portable fuel tanks, and the slaughter of horses for their meat.
But for Sergeant Zahalka and his colleagues, the mission in Miami’s farmland remains clear: protect the harvest, the land, and the livelihoods that depend on both.
Larry Dunagan, a life-long local farmer, and a member of the board of directors for the Dade County Farm Bureau, said that Section has always responded to the needs and concerns of the local farming community, and he praised Sergeant Zahalka for his vigilance.
“Definitely he pays attention to what’s going on out here, he knows the farmers, he knows the crops, and the seasons,” said Mr. Dunagan, who grows avocados and pole beans. “He’s very involved and he’s devoted a lot of time and effort to know the industry and to know the people involved and what they do and when they do it.”
Thursday May 29, 2025
Thursday May 29, 2025
On the morning of January 8, 2025, a Wednesday, the assignment for the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) Motors Unit was straightforward: meet the Penn State Nittany Lions football team at the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura and escort them to and from practice. The team was in town for the Orange Bowl, where they’d face Notre Dame on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Deputy Joseph Vallejos started the day like any other. He got up, brushed his teeth, and helped get his two children—his 4-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son—ready for school. After drop-off, he returned home to eat breakfast with his wife, a police complaint officer with MDSO. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the only mornings their schedules align—something they don’t take for granted.
Then it was time to get ready for work. The 35-year-old deputy showered and dressed in his uniform. He pulled on his leather boots and fastened his helmet. At 5 feet 8 inches, he’s compact and solidly built, with tattoos running the length of his left arm and most of his right. He carries himself with the quiet confidence of a man who’s seen enough to know what really matters. Deputy Vallejos has been with MDSO for eight years, and during his time with the Motors Unit, he’s taken on a range of duties—from monitoring school zones to conducting DUI enforcement operations. The Unit’s most visible work is escorting dignitaries and sports teams. Two days earlier, he’d helped escort the Nittany Lions from Miami International Airport to their hotel.
Before rolling out of his driveway, Deputy Vallejos checked his motorcycle’s tire pressure. In the street in front of his house, he made several slow loops—figure eights and circles—to warm up the bike. At 10 a.m., he headed toward the hotel.
The football team emerged from the hotel in practice gear, and the Motors Unit led their buses to Ronald L. Book Athletic Stadium, about five miles away. After practice, the deputies escorted the team back to the hotel. With their assignment complete, the Unit departed as a group. The slow roll of the motorcycles produced a baritone thunder. As each deputy reached their exit, they peeled off one by one. Deputy Vallejos exited at Southwest 152nd Street and headed westbound. It was 1:30 p.m., and traffic was moderate.
He thought about picking up his son at 3 p.m. and figured he had ample time to go home, change, and maybe knock out a few chores before school dismissal. He stopped at a red light at the intersection of Southwest 152nd Street and Southwest 137th Avenue, where a man on a blue motorcycle pulled up beside him.
“Hey man, what’s up? That’s a nice bike,” the rider said. They chatted until the light turned green.
Deputy Vallejos moved forward to the next intersection—Southwest 138th Avenue and Southwest 152nd Street. Another red light. When it turned green, he scanned left, then right. Heightened awareness is second nature for anyone who’s ridden long enough. “You gotta drive defensive, always,” he said.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, four motorcycle officers were killed in line-of-duty crashes in 2023. And from 2015 through 2019, there were a total of 28 fatal law enforcement motorcycle crashes. Three years ago, a member of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s (now known as MDSO) Motors Unit was struck by an SUV that crossed into his path at Northwest 36th Street and 53rd Avenue in Miami Springs. The impact sent the officer’s body somersaulting through the air, and resulted in numerous injuries that left him in critical condition, barely clinging to life. The deputy underwent 13 surgeries and months of rehabilitation before he was able to recover and return to work.
Deputy Vallejos began his left turn. Suddenly, something flashed into his peripheral vision. A gray sedan—close. By the time he saw it fully, it was just seven inches away.
What happened next, Deputy Vallejos remembers as if watching himself in slow motion—high definition, frame by frame. The sedan’s front passenger side struck his left leg, which went instantly numb. His left hand punched through the car’s windshield as his body was launched across the hood. He watched as his hand came out of the glass, lacerated, then lost track of it as his body spun violently. He tried to cross his arms over his chest to brace for landing, but the force was too great. His back slammed against the pavement. The air rushed from his lungs. He felt his pelvis expand unnaturally.
When he came to rest on his back, he tried to move his legs. Nothing. He tried to sit up. He couldn’t. The pain was blinding. People rushed toward him, urging him not to move. A woman’s voice cut through the chaos. “I never saw him! I never saw him!” she cried.
Vallejos felt warmth rushing down his right leg. He feared the worst—that his femoral artery had been severed. “I thought I would be dead in a minute,” he said.
Then came the sirens. And then familiar voices—fellow deputies from earlier that day. One from the Hammocks District arrived too. “Joey, we’re here, we got you,” they repeated. Deputy Vallejos reached for Deputy Johnnie Crawford’s hand. “I need help. I need help,” he said. They gripped hands tightly. “I needed it—for security, for comfort,” Vallejos later recalled.
Paramedics arrived, followed by a wave of deputies, dozens of them, securing the scene and the route to the hospital. Deputy Vallejos was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. The Motors Unit provided escort to Jackson South Medical Center. Each bump in the road sent new waves of agony through his body. At the hospital, the doors of the ambulance swung open, and his supervisor, Lieutenant Jorge Montero, stood there. “I remember telling my Lieutenant it wasn’t my fault, and he told me not to worry about it,” Vallejos said.
Another member of the Unit asked him for his wife’s phone number. She needed to be told what had happened. The deputy’s wife, Selany Machado, rushed to the hospital. She was off from work that day. Deputy Vallejos was prepped for surgery. Even as the anesthesia set in, he said he could still hear his wife’s voice.
Deputy Vallejos was in critical condition. His injuries were extensive: a fractured pelvis, two fractured vertebrae, a broken knee and tibia, and a fractured wrist—though the wrist didn’t require surgery. He woke up two days later, groggy and drifting in and out of sleep. That entire weekend is a blur. His fellow deputies never left his side—officers from Kendall and Hammocks, his own unit, and others from across MDSO. Plates and screws were inserted into his pelvis and leg. Rods and screws were placed in his back.
As Deputy Vallejos underwent surgery, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz stood in front of the hospital and asked the community for prayers and also to be attentive to motorcycle officers or anyone on a motorcycle. “They clearly do not have an advantage, and so it is really important that as drivers, we are aware, please if you can, put down the telephone, put down the texting, it can wait.”
Doctors told Deputy Vallejos that he wouldn’t be able to walk until August at the earliest.
The rehab has been grueling. Deputy Vallejos set goals for himself, leaning on his family, his coworkers, and his own resolve. After nearly a week in the hospital, he was transferred to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Miami, in Cutler Bay, where he stayed for a month. Still wheelchair-bound, he couldn’t bear weight on his body. Physical therapy was three times a day, up to four hours total. The pain was constant.
“There were days when I couldn’t get out of bed, so rehab had to happen in bed,” he said. Even simple exercises—leg lifts, knee bends—were excruciating. Sometimes, without painkillers, the effort brought him to tears. But he pushed through. His therapists were stunned by his endurance.
On February 13, just over a month after the crash, Deputy Vallejos told the staff he was ready to go home. But first, he had to prove he could complete a checklist: get into his wheelchair unassisted, brush his teeth—small tasks, but ones that now required intense effort and focus.
He completed the list. He called his wife. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he told her. “I’ll be home tomorrow.”
When he arrived home, a crowd was waiting. The entrance to their home had been fitted with a temporary ramp. Therapy continued five days a week. After a month, he was strong enough to begin outpatient treatment. On March 28, he started weight-bearing therapy—standing, walking, re-learning strength.
A “fitness guy” before the crash, he felt like he was starting over. He had lost 50 pounds, dropping from 235 to 185. Gradually, some muscle returned.
What kept him going, he said, were his children.
“My daughter would see me in the wheelchair and say, ‘Daddy, I want you to feel better,’” Deputy Vallejos said. “I was tired of her seeing me like that.”
At church recently, his son shared a prayer he’d made. “He said he prayed for me to start walking again,” Deputy Vallejos said, his voice breaking and tears welling in his eyes. “As a father, that hit hard. I had to stand up. And that’s what I did. I told myself, I’m done with this wheelchair.”
There’s a window at the front of his house, where he recently caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror inside. “I was looking at myself—I was walking straight, I wasn’t limping,” he said. “I thought, I can do this. I can do this.” On May 12, he returned to work on light duty, and on May 13, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners recognized Deputy Vallejos, with an official proclamation recognizing his bravery and dedication to his work. “ On May 21, he was out at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah, assisting with dive training exercises.
He recently rode his personal motorcycle—a chopper-style Harley-Davidson—for the first time since the crash. The route took him through the intersection where it all happened.
“I had to mentally tell myself I can do this,” he said. “Because it wasn’t my fault.”
Friday Mar 07, 2025
Friday Mar 07, 2025
At 79-years-old, Jean Bellerive can still operate a heavy floor buffer for as long as it takes to apply his signature patina to the floors inside the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office’s (MDSO) Northwest District. On mornings when his blood sugar is low -he is diabetic- he takes the necessary dosage of insulin and carries on with his daily duties.
After 13 years at the District, a stretch that included the COVID-19 Pandemic, when he chose to continue showing up for work rather than stay at home, Mr. Jean, as he is affectionately known, is retiring. He has been working for Goodwill of South Florida for 18 years.
He left Haiti 47 years ago. He was a French teacher there, but also learned Spanish, which he often used to chat with MDSO employees. He is a father of six who range in age from 31 to 57.
Approximately 40 deputies and professional staff gathered in the District’s upstairs conference room on Friday morning, February 28, 2025, to surprise Mr. Jean for his retirement party. He had to be coaxed from his cleaning duties by his Goodwill co-worker, Ms. Inadia Garçon, to go upstairs. They are a two-person team who look after one another. “He’s such a hard worker, very strong, he loves to work, he’s been like that his whole life,” said Ms. Garçon, who has worked at the District for 20 years.
As Mr. Jean walked into the conference room, disbelief overcame him, and Ms. Garçon had to tug him by his arm to lead him in.
“I can’t believe this, thank you so much,” he told the crowd. He wore his light blue short-sleeve work shirt, dark blue khakis, grey mid-rise lightweight boots, and a wide, black back support brace with an adjustable strap system.
Mr. Jean briefly pondered retirement years ago, but needed the income, so he continued working. While his hands can still offer a vice-like handshake, his body has been slow to recover some days from the exertions of the job.
“Now, the body says no,” he said.
Major Gonzalez said of the two Goodwill employees, “Aside from the work you do, you are members of our family, you come here every day with smiles on your faces, you come here with energy and vigor, and then, the jobs that you do, it comes from your heart, and I know it, and every single one of us here can testify to that.”
Mr. Jean represents many of the 31 Goodwill of South Florida employees who clean MDSO buildings, including the Fred Taylor Headquarters Building, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Training Center, the Cutler Bay Municipal District, and Hammocks, Intracoastal, and Northwest Districts. Certainly there are some Goodwill staff who choose to work inconspicuously, but as many of the professional and sworn staff at those locations can attest, the Goodwill crew in general has become a cherished part of workplace camaraderie. They are familiar faces in royal blue smocks who are pulled into conversation over cafecitos, and invited to MDSO employees homes to share family birthdays or other occasions. When they retire, they are sorely missed.
“There is a lot of training involved, and they stay with us for years, 10 to 15 years or beyond,” said Roberto Prado, Goodwill of South Florida manager of service contracts. He acts as the supervisor for the two Goodwill employees at the Northwest District. Every location has a supervisor.
Workers are selected through job fairs mostly, and must pass thorough background checks as required to work inside a law enforcement agency.
“It’s a great way for people to stay active, teach them skills, do something productive,” said Mr. Prado, who showed up for the retirement party.
Jocelyne Moussavou, Goodwill of South Florida vice president of service contracts, also showed up to wish Mr. Bellerive a happy retirement.
“I honestly have to admit that it really touched me today, to see everybody in the room, to hear the Major, and listen to Mr. Jean’s words about how everyone here treated him like a family member,” Ms. Moussavou said. “As I said in my speech, it means so much, because he’s not so much connected to us on a day-to-day basis, he is plugged in here more than to the Goodwill family. So it brings us a lot of peace to know that he is treated equitably and fairly, and with respect, because, unfortunately, sometimes this job doesn’t always get the recognition that it should because people see it as a lower-level job even though it is a very important responsibility. This is a testament to the agency, and to the Sheriff’s Office, because folks do treat our staff with that level of respect.”
Northwest District Public Service Aide Candace Osborne picked up Mr. Jean’s personalized retirement cake and carried it upstairs to the second-floor conference room, placing it on a table in front of the room alongside platters of sandwiches, fruit and other food. As she went about fixing the table, she recounted how Mr. Jean often exceeded his job role.
“Our refrigerator was full of things, left and forgotten and it hadn’t been cleaned out for so long, so i went in and threw stuff away, to take out all the clutter, but when I returned the next day, he had gone in there, and actually cleaned the inside of the refrigerator, it was spotless clean, and I didn’t even realize that he saw what I had done before,” PSA Osborne said. “He took it upon himself to do that!”
While Mr. Jean could not eat his own retirement cake, because of his diabetes, he did snack on other food on the table. As he ate, he looked around and said, “This place has been like home for a long time, I’m going to miss it, I’m going to miss the people here most of all.”
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
For the 47 members of Basic Law Enforcement Class #143, their graduation on Thursday, January 16, 2025, was a moment for them to celebrate their accomplishments with their classmates, family, and friends, but the ceremony also represented a watershed moment that made the event even more special. The deputies are the first class to graduate under the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO), the newly-minted agency that replaced the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The graduation was the second historic event in two weeks for MDSO. On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, inside the same venue, the Miami-Dade College North Campus School of Justice auditorium, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz was sworn in. She is the first Hispanic woman elected sheriff in the state’s history, and the first woman elected sheriff in Miami-Dade County history. The graduation was her first class as well. She had a message for the deputies.
“Have courage, to enter into dark alleys, places no one else would be willing to go, to help those that need it the most, but additionally, have courage to do what is right, to stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and have courage to be the example in law enforcement that everyone should look up to, and that courage may actually be more stressful than entering that dark alley. You see, we train you on how to enter that dark alley, but I think we’re still working on teaching you how to be those positive examples to each other. It has been a personal goal of mine, through this time, as I enter into the role of sheriff, to find better ways to make that goal a reality. I hope that you will come along on that journey with me, you see we are all firsts.”
Sheriff Cordero-Stutz added, “This is a significant moment in the history of the office of the sheriff, you see, BLE 143, will never happen again, it will forever be known as the very first class of deputy sheriffs of the county of Miami-Dade, and those are very big shoes to fill, just as I’m being asked to fill these shoes as sheriff. I want you to know that I am counting on you, this community is counting on you, but this is just the beginning. Always grow, always serve, always lead, and you don’t have to do that with stars or stripes on your collar or shirt, you can do it in action. I look forward to seeing you serve this community alongside me as the first deputy sheriffs of Miami-Dade County.”
Among the graduates are three deputies with unique backgrounds and skills. Class Leader Robert Grillo introduced them to the crowd of approximately 2,000 people attending the graduation, saying that their contribution enhanced their training, which began on April 1, 2024.
Deputy Wilbur Harbin Jr., is a retired Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department Chief. He joined the academy at 55-years-old. “Trainee Harbin demonstrated that at no matter what stage of life you find yourself in, it’s never too late to pursue your dreams and to never give up,” Deputy Grillo said.
Deputy Asalemo Fruean Jr., is a veteran of the Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement, Sheriff Division, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. “His insights and expertise helped us navigate the rigorous demands of the police academy,” Deputy Grillo said.
Deputy Doryam Jusino Mayoral was regarded as the biggest asset for the class, serving in the role of executive officer, a position that supports the class leader. Deputy Grillo said that she played a crucial role in maintaining order, accountability, and organization throughout the nine-month academy. “Her efforts in coordinating events that our class oversaw hosting were invaluable, trainee Jusino, your support as the executive officer for BLE 143, helped me navigate challenges that we faced and for that we are truly grateful.”
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
By Brian Ballou
In her speech to 39 women who graduated from the inaugural class of the Women’s Leadership Academy on April 11, 2024, then Assistant Director Rosie Cordero-Stutz borrowed a phrase from an accomplished author to offer them career advice.
“I want to challenge all the students of this class to remember this quote, as you depart with all your new wisdom, into your future bright careers, in the words of Laurel Ulrich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, well-behaved women seldom make history,” she said.
Sheriff Cordero-Stutz made history on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, becoming the first Hispanic woman elected Sheriff in the state’s history, and the first woman elected Sheriff in Miami-Dade County history. It was a remarkable ascension for the Sheriff, who joined the Department in 1996. She was sworn in on January 7, 2025, overseeing the newly-created Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO).
Her journey is nothing short of remarkable. Born to a Dominican immigrant mother who raised her in the gritty Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, and later in Flushing, Queens, New York City, she learned resilience and determination early, traits that would define her 28-year career in law enforcement. She joined the Miami-Dade Police Department in 1996, as a patrol officer in the Northside District, and she steadily climbed the ranks, serving in diverse and demanding roles – Homicide detective, Robbery Intervention Detail, Internal Affairs, and Major of the Robbery Bureau. With the Robbery Bureau, she oversaw a 24 percent decline in robberies, a dramatic drop that she attributed to “good old-fashioned Barney Miller police work.”
She went on to become North Operations Division Chief, helping to lead the Department through a series of challenges, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, civil unrest, and the tragic Surfside Building collapse. As Assistant Director, her list of responsibilities grew, but it was a job that she had prepared for her entire life. She credits her parents, particularly her mother, for instilling in her a strong work ethic, and an attitude that she should not let others define her limitations but strive to do the best at whatever she set out to achieve.
As a ten-year-old growing up in a largely Dominican neighborhood in Washington Heights, she prepped her mother to take the U.S. Citizenship test, quizzing her on the names of U.S. Presidents, the First Amendment, the branches of government, and other facts. As a newly-minted citizen, her mother took on numerous jobs to provide for the family.
Her parents divorced and her father relocated to South Florida. Her mother moved out of Washington Heights, which was overrun with crime and besieged by the crack-cocaine epidemic, to Flushing, Queens. The public high school in their new neighborhood was much better.
Sheriff Cordero-Stutz worked as a sales associate at Thom McAn Shoes in New York City, a job that she held from high school through graduation from Marist College, a small liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, NY. She majored in criminal justice, and was required to complete two internships to graduate. Her first one was with a District Attorney’s Office, where she was attached to investigations. And the second one was at a minimum security federal prison. Through those experiences, she learned that she loved to do investigative work.
“I knew that I wanted to stay in law enforcement over corrections, because one thing I love about policing, you’re never doing the exact same thing every day,” she said.
After graduating from Marist, Sheriff Cordero-Stutz continued working in retail, at The Limited. She had visited her father in Miami numerous times and fell in love with the region, so much so that she decided she wanted to relocate to Miami. At her job, she put in for a transfer, and it was approved. She moved to Miami and started working for The Limited, and H2O Plus, at the Dadeland Mall. She was enrolled in management and training programs at both of those jobs.
She was also applying to federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DEA. The application process was lengthy, convoluted and required travel. “It was not going the way I wanted it to go, and at a point I told myself to stop and re-access things. I knew I still wanted to do policing, and for me, the only place that I wanted to work at was the Miami-Dade Police Department.” She applied, and then waited. It took two years for her to be accepted to be a member of Basic Law Enforcement Class 176, in 1996. She was appointed class leader. “I had worked retail for many years and part of my job was management, so I had already developed those skills when I entered the academy,” Sheriff Cordero-Stutz said.
Her first assignment after the academy was as a patrol officer in the Northside District. “I fell in love with patrol, there were moments when you arrive to a location and you’re able to help people in their darkest moments, diffusing situations.” She said her ability to connect to people and to resolve disputes and work through difficult situations stems from the lessons she learned from her mother.
“I would think about everything she went through, she was the eldest daughter of 13 siblings, and paved the way for her siblings. She came to this country legally and then sponsored 12 of her siblings to come here. “My cousins, I have so many of them, and they are all good citizens, professionals. There is a recipe there, this country allows for anyone who wants to achieve, to do so, to create opportunities rather than continue to cry about not getting any. Honestly, some of the best lessons I learned in life came because I didn’t get opportunities. I didn’t let that stop me, I just found another way, and that was instilled in me by my mother.”
At the Northside District, she was involved in numerous chases of suspects, in cars and on foot, often having to jump over fences and other obstacles to subdue individuals who refused to give up. As a member of the Priority Response Unit in the Northside District, she and a partner were assigned to find a subject wanted for murder. They found him walking on a street. The suspect resisted arrest. “It was a heck of a fight,” she said.
She carries with her the experience of responding to a domestic situation in which a mother suffering from mental illness was raising a family in abject squalor. “Her 12-year-old child basically became the de facto adult of the household, thrust into adulthood and responsibility that never should have been part of his experience as a child.”
Her shift to a supervisory role came after she passed the Sergeant’s exam in 2004, and went to the Robbery Intervention Detail. She had previous experience with RID but in her return, was leading other officers. “I felt like I had given a lot of myself and it was time to contribute in a different way.”
While assigned to RID, she attended graduate school part-time, and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, with a certification in Human Resources.
Later assigned to the Homicide Bureau, she “lived, breathed, and slept homicide cases.” At the time she was single and did not have any children, so she poured herself into her job. “It was obviously important work, giving closure to the families of victims and helping those who no longer had a voice.” She spent five years in the Bureau.
“Experience matters, it truly matters, because every one of our officers, or deputies, can take a person’s civil rights away in our duty to protect the public, and in that role, sometimes very bad things can happen,” she said. “We’ve been blessed here, turn on the news and pay attention to some other departments, we don’t have those issues here because of our relationship with the community and the fact that we continually learn from our experiences. We have a rich history of having done things well.”
As Sheriff, she plans to focus on continuing to promote the Department’s close connection with the community it patrols, and emphasizing the importance of “Culture.”
“We will strive to project it internally and outwardly. Service is a key motto of mine. We’ve had a few rough years, but we want to continually remind ourselves of the culture that has been established here.”
Her Dominican culture is also source of immense pride, and she has been a shining role model for her community. On November 13, 2021, the Dominican Law Enforcement Officers of Florida named her their “Woman of the Year,” during their annual gala. “What it means to me is that I’m acknowledged by not just my fellow law enforcement brothers and sisters, but by my Dominican law enforcement brothers and sisters,” she said in her acceptance speech back then.
Her decision to announce her candidacy for Sheriff came after deep consideration with her family and with co-workers. As the pool of candidates grew, and the deadline to declare approached, she thought that the Department could be better served by a high-ranking leader with vast experience, and the ability to connect with the community. Her life had prepared her for the role, and when several of her co-workers suggested to her that she had the background to lead the Department, she began to seriously consider running. It was after a conversation with her husband, who retired from the Department after 35 years, that she decided to run. Her husband told her that the Department needed her expertise at a pivotal time in its history, and that she should answer the call to usher in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office as its leader.
“The whole process, to becoming elected, it was hard, probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Monday Dec 09, 2024
Monday Dec 09, 2024
By Brian Ballou
In a ceremony tinged with historic significance, 13 members of the Miami-Dade Police Department stepped into new roles of leadership, marking not only their personal achievements, but also the end of an era.
Among them, three Sergeants rose to the rank of Lieutenant, while ten officers donned gold badges for the first time, symbolizing their transition to supervisory roles.
This promotion class is more than a routine personal career milestone for the group, they represent the final cohort to ascend the ranks under the banner of the Miami-Dade Police Department, which will officially transition to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on January 7, 2025. For these newly promoted leaders, the ceremony was a moment to reflect on their own journeys while standing at the crossroads of their Department’s history.
Change was the theme throughout the ceremony on Monday, October 28, 2024, echoed in the words of Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s representative at the event, Dr. Carladenise Edwards, Chief Administrative Officer.
“You know change is a huge part of our life, change can be hard and change can be scary, but as leaders you all will facilitate the change that we are about to embark upon, and I’m so glad that I get to do that with you,” Dr. Edwards said.
Promoted to Sergeant were; Dalton A. Clark, Matthew G. Crowe, Simeon R. Dawson, Rita G. Gonzalez, Christine Marte, Annanetha R. Mitchell, Gilbert Nau, Jose M. Navarro, Justin R. Pascual, and Jaime Richter. Promoted to Lieutenant were; Aida M. Fina-Millian, Tania Solis, and Charles M. Stennett.
“Today marks a significant milestone, not just for you, but for all of us as we stand here together, in what will be the final promotional ceremony of the Miami-Dade Police Department,” said Director Stephanie V. Daniels. After a brief silence, she continued her speech, looking directly at the 13 supervisors seated together at the front of the large auditorium room on the second floor of the Fred Taylor Headquarters Building in Doral. “I’m emotional . . . it’s the last one, the last one, you all are making history.”
The promotion ceremony will also be the last one that Director Daniels will preside over as the Department’s leader. On November 5, Assistant Director Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz was elected Sheriff, and her term begins on January 7, 2025.
Director Daniels said, “As we prepare to transition into the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, it is important to reflect on the responsibilities that we all carry into this new chapter, this promotional ceremony, this promotion for you is not just a new badge, or title, it is a profound responsibility, you are now leaders, charged with upholding the standards of this Department and setting examples that others will follow. I trust that each of you has the skill, the integrity, and the commitment necessary to embrace this responsibility. As we move forward, remember that being the right leader starts with who you are, your core. Leadership isn’t about rank or authority, it is about your character, fairness, and ability to lead with empathy and compassion.”
Later in her speech she said, “As we prepare to enter into the new era of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, I want to remind you that this is not just a rebranding, it is a continuation of who we are at our core, Miami-Dade. The Miami-Dade Police Department has always stood for excellence, integrity, and service to our community. Those values will carry forward with us, and it is up to us, all of us, to ensure they remain the cornerstone of our work.”
Among the promotion class was Northside District Uniformed Patrol Sergeant Gilbert Nau. Standing with his family after the end of the ceremony, he expressed his feelings.
“When Director Daniels mentioned it in her speech to us, at that moment, it kind of hit me hard, and it actually gives me a lot of motivation to keep moving up and setting a good example, acting on her words to become a good leader to guide the new officers to a greater future.” In referring to his own career as well as the Department’s transition, he added, “Change is good, and there are challenges from those changes that should be embraced.”
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
By Brian Ballou
For the first time in its storied history, the Miami-Dade Police Department held a ceremony to honor civilian employees for their promotions. On Friday, August 9, 2024, 25 civilians were celebrated for their achievements in a ceremony that drew enthusiastic applause and the proud presence of family, friends, and colleagues.
The promotions were officially recognized in the Department’s second-floor conference room at the Fred Taylor Headquarters Building in Doral. The event had the feel of a graduation ceremony, as each honoree made their way to the stage to receive a certificate and pose for photographs with Deputy Director Christopher J. Carothers. The room reverberated with cheers as loved ones and coworkers acknowledged the hard-earned accomplishments of the promoted civilians.
In his remarks, Deputy Director Carothers acknowledged that this recognition was long overdue, signaling a new era of appreciation for the vital roles civilians play within the department.
“As mentioned earlier, traditionally the Department has not held this type of recognition for civilian staff members, and it was not because we didn’t like you, or appreciate you, or need you, because all those things would be untrue,” Deputy Director Carothers said. He said that with regard to the sworn side of the Department, there is a formalized time frame for eligibility for promotion, and an established routine to the process. The civilian equivalent ceremony “kinda’ fell to the wayside,” he said, but the Department will use the first ceremony as a springboard to continue to acknowledge civilian promotions. He then thanked Chief Stephanie L. Stoiloff, the Department’s Chief Scientific Officer, who oversees the Forensic Services Division, for bringing forth the idea to have a civilian promotion ceremony.
In a speech, Chief Stoiloff told the civilian staffers, “Your work is the backbone of everything we do in this Department, I know that I don’t need to tell you that.”
Chief Stoiloff named all of the areas within the Department that were represented by the civiliansrecently promoted. Within the Investigative Services Division, the Crime Laboratory, and Homicide, Special Victims, Homeland Security, Organized Crimes, and Crime Scene & Evidence Bureaus were represented. Within the Fiscal & Departmental Services, the Information Technology Services Division, Fiscal Administration, and the Central Records, Communications, and Personnel Management Bureaus were represented. Within the Compliance and Standards Division, the Police Legal, Professional Compliance, and Mental Health & Wellness Bureaus were represented. And within Police Services, the South District and the Community Affairs Bureau was represented.
“As you’ve heard from that long list, our civilian staffers are inextricably linked to every part of this amazing agency,” Chief Stoiloff said.
The ceremony was the first of three to celebrate civilians promoted since January 2023. The second ceremony was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, and included 33 civilians. There will be at least two more ceremonies in 2024.
The Department’s Human Resources Manager, Dena Kelly, explained that there are two avenuesto promotion within the non-sworn, or professional side, of the Department. “Sometimes it might be a position from a Criminalist 1 to a Criminalist 2, and in that case it’s a little bit different, because those are automatic promotions. Someone who is hired as a Criminalist 1, they go through a year, maybe a year and a half of probation and training, and once they pass their phases as a Criminalist 1, they’re reclassified to a Criminalist 2, so some of the promotions are in classifications. But most promotions, in the true sense of the word, is when a job is advertised, people apply, they’re interviewed, and the best candidate is selected.”
Among those recently promoted and acknowledged during the ceremony was MDPD Intelligence Analyst Simone N. Robinson, who has been with the Department for 14 years, having first served as a Police Dispatcher. She currently works in the Special Victims Bureau. Echoing Chief Stoiloff’s comments, she said, “We are like the backbone of the Department, helping to get subjects off the streets.”
She thanked Chief Eric L. Garcia, her former supervisor at the Communications Bureau, for helping her out in her career path within the Department. “He believed in me and he always spoke positively of my future, so I am here today because he believed in me,” she said, holding back tears.
After the ceremony ended, and as families left the conference room, Chief Stoiloff said, “Just take a look at all those smiles, it was worth every single minute making it happen.”
Wednesday Aug 21, 2024
Wednesday Aug 21, 2024
The Miami-Dade Police Department has launched a pilot program designed to root out fraudsters who commit staged car crashes, a white-collar crime that siphons billions of dollars from the insurance industry and drives up premiums for honest motorists.
The program, operated out of the Department’s Midwest District, began with training in December 2023. On its first day in effect, on March 1, 2024, detectives responded to two reported accidents that were determined to be staged car crashes upon further investigation. By mid-July, officers had arrested 52 individuals involved in orchestrating fraudulent crashes to scam insurance companies.
The Insurance industry estimates that vehicle fraud exceeds $2 billion annually in the U.S. The National Insurance Crime Bureau, or NICB, reports over 600 “questionable claims” filed each year in Florida, with approximately one-third originating in Miami-Dade County. The number of such dubious claims would decrease if more law enforcement agencies developed specialized training to weed out fraud.
“As we all know from having to pay thousands in high insurance premiums, this is not a victimless crime,” said Midwest District Lieutenant Lazaro M. Torres, who developed the plan to create the Staged Crash Investigation Initiative, leading to the pilot program. Before joining the Department in 2009, he worked as an insurance investigator, specializing in vehicle fraud.
“I decided that we could put my knowledge in that area to use,” he said. He recruited twomembers of the District’s Hit and Run Unit: Detectives Douglas Melendez and Alfredo Gonzalez. The Unit’s partners include NICB, the Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Insurance Fraud, the Special Investigative Unit, and the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office Insurance Fraud Unit.
Training focused on how to spot a scam. Staged crashes come in various forms, including rear-end, single-vehicle, roll-overs, emergency braking, pre-existing damage, and hit-and-runs, according to investigators. The Department’s Public Service Aides (PSA’s), play a major role, because their workload is predominately responding to traffic accidents. If a PSA or a road patrol officer suspects foul play, the next step is calling a detective to the scene. The signs of fraud that PSAs, patrol officers, and investigators have been trained to look for include; favored locations such as isolated residential or commercial areas, crashes occurring after 9 p.m., multiple occupants per vehicle, a driver who is not the vehicle owner, crash logistics inconsistent with the incident, minor damages to both vehicles, demand for crash reports despite minor to no damage, and complaints of possible injury with a refusal for medical attention on scene.
Often, the participants of a staged crash will rehearse together. They will gather near the scene, to go over the details, and will conduct a dry run or two before actually carrying out the crash. Sometimes those rehearsals are captured on nearby home or commercial surveillance cameras. Detectives say the typical person who decides to participate in such deception are desperate for money, and are told by organizers that it is an easy scam that goes undetected and pays thousands. But the math does not typically work out in favor of the person attempting to cheat their insurance company, as their premiums will increase over time, way beyond the one time check they received for being part of the scam.
“I feel that we, as first responders, have the best opportunity to make a huge impact by responding to the scene and stopping the fraud before it takes off,” said Lieutenant Torres. “This is a highly-orchestrated type of crime, with many levels and players involved. Doctors, physicians, body shops, tow companies, and even attorneys are soliciting people to participate in this type of crime.”
On Thursday, July 18, 2024, Lieutenant Torres and members of the unit met at the Midwest District with partner agencies, to discuss the progress of the initiative and how to improve sharing of vital information across all involved agencies.
Mr. Miguel Sanchez, a Special Agent with NICB, attended the meeting, and lauded the pilot program, saying that it has already helped prevent the filing of dozens of scam claims, which has likely saved insurers tens of thousands of dollars. “Once there’s a claim, the insurance companies have to put a certain amount of money per person in that car, sign and cover that claim, and they spend all kinds of money, These people who they arrest on scene, never file a claim, so the companies are saving a lot of money,” he said.
Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., with regional offices throughout the country, the NICB is “the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to combatting and preventing insurance crime,” according to NICB’s website.
The Department is likely to expand the Initiative, as the Unit has received numerous calls from officers in other districts requesting their presence at accident scenes, but unfortunately because there are only two detectives assigned to the unit, they can not respond to the majority of those requests.
“We’re confined to our budget and our area, but this is something so widespread, involving so much money, that we’re just scratching the surface,” said Detective Gonzalez. “We know what we are up against, they are very organized, we’ve seen cases where the same people own a clinic, a body shop and a tow truck business, they’re like one-stop shopping.”
By Brian Ballou