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As we enter 2026, I am proud of what we accomplished in 2025, and equally focused on what comes next. The past year proved something important: when public safety is built on transparency, accountability, and partnership, communities are safer and trust grows.
As Sheriff, my vision for 2026 and beyond is a Miami-Dade where crime continues to decline, trust continues to grow, and public safety is delivered through prevention, partnership, and professionalism. In the year ahead, we will continue investing in training, technology, and intelligence-led policing, while expanding prevention efforts and strengthening community partnerships. Our focus is not only on responding to crime, but on stopping it before it starts — and ensuring every resident feels safe, respected, and protected
Our guiding theme for the year ahead — Safety, Security, and Service — is not just a set of priorities. It is our promise to the people of Miami-Dade County.
Safety means prevention and protection — for residents, visitors, and for one another. In 2025, crime dropped across every major category, including violent and property crime.
Murders declined by 20 percent, from 61 in 2024 to 49 in 2025. Our Homicide Bureau closed 50 murder investigations, including cases from previous years — a 47 percent increase compared with the same time frame in 2024. The Bureau recorded an 82 percent increase in its closure rate of homicide cases in 2025, compared to 2024. To the families who have lost loved ones, nothing can replace what was taken from you, but our deputies work every day with determination and compassion to deliver justice.
Gun violence also fell. Contact shootings dropped from 276 in 2024 to 214 in 2025, and non-contact shootings fell from 284 to 210 (non-contact shootings involve discharged firearms without injuries; contact shootings involve someone being struck). That is a total reduction of 136 shootings in one year.
These results did not happen by chance. They came from smarter deployment, real-time intelligence, visible patrols, and strong community relationships. They also reflect our focus on prevention — keeping young people safe, engaged, and on a path toward opportunity rather than violence. Through Operation Safe Summer, we anticipated seasonal spikes in violence and responded with targeted enforcement. That effort led to more than 1,300 felony arrests and the seizure of 216 firearms.
We also cracked down during the holidays through our Grinchbusters Initiative, making 98 felony arrests, 68 misdemeanor arrests, and issuing 24 warrants. The message is clear: Miami-Dade is not a place where criminals get a free pass.
Security means being prepared and strengthening partnerships to meet evolving threats. We take training seriously and continuously look for better tools to do our jobs safely and effectively. We also know the best policing is done alongside the community.
In 2025, we followed through on my commitment to confront public corruption, HOA and condominium fraud, and complex financial crimes that hit working families and seniors the hardest. As we look toward 2026, our Sheriff’s Office is committed to embracing technology, artificial intelligence, and drone programs to help us respond faster to emergencies and give deputies and dispatchers better real time information. By investing in modern technology, we are investing in safer neighborhoods, smarter policing, and the wellbeing of the public and professionals who serve them every day.
Service means remembering why we wear this badge. It means treating people with respect, compassion, and professionalism every day. Service starts with listening. At its core, this work is about protecting life, dignity, and the fundamental rights that bind us together as a community.
Transparency remains a cornerstone of this agency. We publish crime data through a public dashboard and, for the first time in our history, release body-worn camera footage following deputy-involved shootings. Since the policy began, seven videos have been released so that the public can see for themselves how these incidents unfold. That approach reflects our commitment to openness and public trust. Public safety and constitutional policing are not competing goals — they are inseparable, and we are committed to both.
We are grateful for a productive year, but we are not finished. The work continues. Together, we will keep Miami-Dade safe, strong, and moving forward. Because public safety is not just a job — it is a responsibility to one another.
