Miami Police Department history

Marshall Gray, after a fairly uneventful first year, was re-elected without opposition in October of 1897.

A young resident of Miami since 1901, Leslie Quigg, announced his candidacy for Sheriff of Dade County.

Depicted in the background of the new police badge is Miami Senior High School – constructed in 1902 as the first school in the county.

Rufus James Hardee, the brother of Chief Frank Hardee, was first appointed in 1905.

Elected in 1906, Chief of Police Frank B. Hardee,

In September 1907, following provisions in yet another new charter, the city abolished the office of marshal and established the Miami Police Department under a chief of police, whose salary was set at $1,200 a year.

Dan Hardie, who had been the Fire Chief of Miami since its formation, was elected Sheriff of Dade County in Jan of 1909.

Nelson had changed his name from Epps shortly after 1910 when he entered into an acting career.

Russell, Edward D. Appointed May of 1911.

A 1912 photograph of the department’s staff showed two Sgts. It was noted in the press that in April of 1912, Edwin V. Stephens was serving as the Desk Sgt.

In January of 1913, there were nine full time police officers working under Chief Ferguson.

In 1914 a MPD Officer named W.H. Morris, was arrested for unnecessary force during an arrest of a black male.

He was quoted in the Miami Metropolis of April 23, 1915 "that they were good, hard working officers who only were drunk".

Sergeant Lindstrom has been studying the plan assiduously and has now qualified as a first class finger print man." (Miami Metropolis/News- 8/25/1917)

Officer Frank Angelo Croff, a 28 year old rookie motorcycle officer, was struck and killed by a drunk driver on May 22, 1921.

He said it wasn’t used to extract confessions but that it was used at one time and investigators were able to recover $1,600 worth of stolen goods. (Miami News- 1/6/1923)

By the end of 1925, the MPD had grown to 312 members, a 400 percent increase in one year.

Franks had quit and was attempting to re-join the department. (Miami News-4/15/1926)

A young officer, Jesse Morris, 24, was killed in the line of duty during a shootout on July 8, 1927.

On May 24, 1928, Chief Quigg was dismissed by City Manager Snow, for Neglect of Duty and for the good of the services.

In May of 1930, Capone was arrested three times for 'investigation' or vagrancy.

6/4/1932 - A MPD police pistol range opened at warehouse 8 of the municipal docks.

The radio system was initially installed on November 15th, 1933 according to the MPD Annual Report.

Sullivan, who joined the MPD in 1934, served ten years downtown as a traffic officer at SE 1Avenue and 1 Street.

In 1935, a group of policeman organized the PBA, the first in Florida, to present a unified forum in civil service and employment matters.

Officer Samuel D. Hicks, a 48 year old MPD veteran, an Alabama native, was killed by a drunk driver on Sunday, August 9th, 1936 at N.W. 5th Avenue and 17th Street.

Chief Quigg quickly re-instated fired Detective Chief Scarboro and Detective Williams, who was fired by Safety Director Kavenaugh last year. (Miami News-8/1937)

Coral Gables Officer Homer Barton was shot in May 1938 by a crazy drunk with a shotgun while trying to serve a warrant.

C.O.Huttoe, who was Vice Squad commander during most of 1940 and 41, seemed bent on embarrassing Chief Quigg.

The funeral director had to arrange a separate time for blacks to view McCarthy’s body, as it seems that he was very popular with all the people of Miami, rich and poor, cabdrivers and professionals, men and women, black and white. (Miami PD records, Miami News-9/11/1941)

Edwin Lewrence Barrick, born in Kansas City, Mo, died on Monday evening, June 14th, 1943 of a heart attack suffered at his home,

Nelson had earlier served as Chief when Quigg was first fired in 1944.

Patrolmen Milledge would later become the first Black patrolmen to die in the line of duty on November 1, 1946.

After his release, he returned to his Miami Beach mansion in ill health and died in 1947 without suffering any additional arrests by the MPD.

C.O. Huttoe was reinstituted to his previous rank and position in July of 1949.

In May of 1950, a police precinct was established at 480 NW 11 Street to provide a station house for black policemen and a courtroom for black judges in which to adjudicate black defendants.

The officer headed a squad cracking down on illegal liquor in 1952.

(Miami Herald, -7/6/1954, MPD Vets newsletter)

(Miami News, March 1957 and MPD records)

In June of 1960, Class #44 graduated from the MPD Police Academy.

A series of bombs targeted Jewish businesses and homes in Miami in 1961.

A Robert Franklin Jones was arrested in 1962 but later released.

Walter Combs, long time Miami funeral director, said in 1965 that Wever's funeral was the "most lavish funeral" he ever conducted in Miami. "The MPD escorted the cortège with motorcycles and marching men.

On March 8, 1967, eleven MPD police horses died in a fire at the city's stables, temporarily ending Miami's popular police patrol.

Bob was appointed as a staff officer in the 1970's.

Earlier in his career, as Assistant Director in 1971, McAllister spearheaded legislation that authorized school districts throughout Florida to employ commissioned police officers.

(An after hours 1972 ‘dust-up’ between MPD Robbery detectives and Miami-Dade Homicide detectives.) (451 words)

In 1973 due to the high incidence of burglaries and other crimes occurring after regular school hours, the first night patrol was established to augment police services to the District.

Tyler continued to serve in this role until 1974, and was instrumental in defining the humble beginnings of the fledgling organization.

Many modern police departments have since adopted a similar process known as COMPSTAT. Truitt served as Director until 1978 at which time he was succeeded by Mr.

In 1979, the SSD was reorganized as the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) of Dade County Public Schools.

During the mid-1980’s, McAllister began a pilot program assigning school police officers to secondary school sites.

A 26 year old MPD officer, Jose DeLeon, who had only been assigned to the Motor Squad two weeks ago, was killed on Dec 21, 1984, while chasing a speeder on SW 11th Street at 9:00 AM on a Friday morning.

(Thirty-seven year old Bill Craig, a 14 year veteran Miami police motorcycle officer was struck by a drunk driver on South Dixie in early morning rush hour traffic on March 19, 1988.He died 3 months later.

In 1992, the Superintendent of Schools made a commitment to the School Board to assign a police officer to every secondary school as a proactive measure to provide a safe learning environment.

At that time, SIU had an organizational restructuring to prepare for its new role and expanding responsibilities, and was subsequently renamed the Division of School Police (DSP). Chief McAllister served as the Chief of the DSP until 1996.

In 1999, the DSP began a transformation to a more congruent organization in relation to the District, striving to enhance the delivery of police services.

In the year 2000, the DSP was re-named the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department (MDSPD). Later that year, the MDSPD became one of a select few law enforcement agencies to be awarded millions of dollars through the previously applied for Cops in Schools grant.

In August of 2008, Charles J. Hurley was named Chief of the MDSPD. During his tenure, Chief Hurley managed to reform the business practices of the Department and centralized the agency’s procurement process at a time of great economic uncertainty.