This situation will change starting in the next elections, when the residents of South Florida elect the first county sheriff of the 21st century among 17 candidates, thirteen Republicans and four Democrats.
The election of sheriff through the polls was a state legal initiative approved in a referendum in 2018, with 63.2% of the votes.
Coincidentally, beginning in 2024, state law established that all Florida counties must elect a total of five constitutional officers, who will report directly to voters. In addition to the aforementioned sheriff, the tax collector, the property appraiser, the supervisor of elections and the clerk of court must come out of the polls.
For Miami-Dade, the next elections will mean a transcendental change in the way of doing politics, because these functions, except that of tax collector, were appointed by the mayor and will now be elected directly by the people.
With the purpose of addressing the different aspects of such an important election, DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS in association with Radio Mundo and the television channel EVTV carried out the first television and radio debate between Rosanna Cordero-Stutz, Mario Knapp and Ignacio Álvarez, three candidates for the Republican nomination for sheriff. Each explained why he should be the person chosen for the position of sheriff and addressed some details of the new position.
Candidates
Cordero-Stutz, with 28 years of experience as an officer, is the current deputy chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department. The robbery, homicide and national security divisions operate under her command, and she is also in charge of cities such as Palmetto Bay, Miami Lakes and Cutler Bay. This officer who graduated from the FBI National Academy claimed to have developed her entire police career in the county department, rising through different positions from patrol, homicide detective and sergeant in internal affairs, until she became her second in command. .
According to Cordero-Stutz, she has the support of President Donald Trump, Congressman Carlos Giménez and former county police chief Juan Pérez.
Ignacio Álvarez, a practicing lawyer, claims to have dedicated 25 years of his life to the Department in which he held different positions. “I became an investigative sergeant and was a lieutenant,” said Alvarez, who earned a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University and a Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University. “I grew up in Miami, went to college in Miami and still live in Miami.” He worked in the special victims unit, which deals with rape of women, domestic violence and human trafficking.
“It is important for everyone to know that I am a practicing attorney and because the Police Department has to transition into the Sheriff’s Office, they will need an attorney who understands contracts. “I am the only one of the candidates with that experience and the only one supported by the Dade County Police Benevolent Association,” said Álvarez.
For his part, Mario Knapp, a retired Miami-Dade police major who has the support of the Hispanic Police Officers Association, claimed to be the product of a single mother and grandmother. “That’s why I have so much respect for single mothers, because I know the sacrifice they made to raise the lives of their children like my mother did with my brother and me.”
In his long career in the Police Department, he claims to have gone through all the ranks. “I was an instructor officer on the Miami-Dade SWAT team, a sergeant, a uniformed lieutenant at the Port of Miami, a captain in five different commands, and a major with county-wide responsibility.
Organized crime
“Since I started the campaign in June 2023, I have been talking about re-creating the Tactical Narcotics Unit (TNT) to confront the cartels and especially the entry of fentanyl,” said Knapp, who said that if he became the sheriff would seek more cooperation with federal partners.
Cordero-Stutz, who currently commands the county’s narcotics and gang unit, says he would confront organized crime from multiple angles. “It is important to continue disrupting small organizations until you reach the largest ones.” The officer also agrees to work with state and federal agencies. And she warns that to prevent what is happening in Texas, California and New York from happening, it is necessary to use available resources to train officers and get ahead of problems. She also advocates for having a voice in the legislature in Tallahassee and Washington to “get laws that let us attack organized crime organizations and have the power to arrest them and keep them in jail.”
However, Álvarez differs from Knapp, “I don’t think the answer to confront organized crime is just to create TNT, the problem is that in 2008 we had 3,200 officers and today we have the same number even though the community has grown.” Álvarez also complained about the lack of police officers. “We don’t have officers on the streets, we don’t have investigative officers.”
sheriff’s budget
The new sheriff’s office will have a budget of more than $1 billion and 3,200 officers to ensure county security.
“The Sheriff is the person in charge of defending the constitutional rights of county residents. It is extremely important that everyone understands this,” said Cordero-Stutz, who promised to be a transparent sheriff in the management of resources.
Regarding the budget, Álvarez advocated carrying out a restructuring of the office, “right now we have five heads in addition to eight heads of directorates. “We need a sheriff who can run the office like a business.”
The three candidates agreed in pointing out the importance of having an anti-corruption brigade, “to investigate not only corrupt politicians, but also the problems that condominium owners associations and communities of owners have, a concern that we hear everywhere. when we meet with voters,” Cordero-Stutz said.
Prisons
Mario Knapp argued that it was important for the sheriff to be in charge of the county jails. “Police and prisons must work together to prevent a police detainee from being unjustifiably released, as happened during the pandemic.”
Regarding the social reintegration of people who serve their sentence, Cordero-Stutz said it was crucial to have a plan so that when ex-convicts return to society they have less opportunity to reoffend. Álvarez agreed and indicated that, in the county, years ago, there was a camp program where they disciplined young people who had served their sentences and helped them reintegrate into the community.
Partisan election
All three candidates agreed that, despite being a partisan election, the important position of sheriff represents the entire community. “The crucial thing is to protect people’s constitutional rights,” Knapp said.
Although Álvarez made the following clarification: “It is no less true that we need a Republican sheriff to bring law and order, to do his job and to put criminals in jail to prevent what is happening in other cities,” addressed by Democrats.
According to the Miami-Dade Elections Department, the primary elections will take place on August 20. Voters can register until July 22. To elect the sheriff, the winners of both parties will face each other at the polls on November 5 in the general elections.
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