‘God is guiding me’: Ruamen DelaRua explains Miami-Dade Sheriff bid

Image via Ruamen DelaRua.

Veteran law enforcement pro Ruamen DelaRua believes he was destined to run for Miami-Dade County Sheriff. The signs, he said, are evident in his name and key aspects of his life.

“God is guiding me,” he told Florida Politics. “With my education, knowledge and 42 years of experience — 26 years of Sheriff’s Office culture and 16 years of police culture — God has put me in this position for the good of Miami-Dade.”

Born in Cuba in 1964, DelaRua and his family fled to the U.S. from Fidel Castro’s communist regime two years later. Coincidentally — or not, in his view — that was the same year Miami-Dade residents abolished the county’s elected Sheriff’s Office.

DelaRua took an interest in policing while in junior high and joined the Miami City Police Department in the 1980s. He later moved to the Ocala area, where he served with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for 26 years, retiring in 2013 as a District Commander.

Retirement didn’t stick. Within the year, he was back on the Miami Police Department payroll, where he remains today — though not for much longer if he can help it.

County voters nixed the Sheriff’s post in 1966 after a grand jury report revealed rampant corruption within the Department, replacing it with an appointed Police Director who today answers to the Mayor.

But in 2018, 58% of Miami-Dade voters joined a statewide supermajority in approving a constitutional amendment requiring all 67 counties to have an elected Sheriff, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser and Clerk of Courts by early 2025.

In November 2022, DelaRua became the first candidate to file for the Sheriff’s race, which now features 15 candidates. Eleven of them — including him — are Republican.

His last name appears in different forms on his campaign website, social media accounts and the county elections website. Among its variations: de la Rua, De La Rua, DeLaRua and Delarua.

That’s not the part of his name he believes is most vital to his candidacy.

“If you look at my name, if you write it out — my parents were public servants back in the day, a bus driver and a nurse — it’s Ruamen de Jesus DelaRua. Take the ‘R-U’ out and take the ‘DelaRua’ out. What do you see?” he said.

The answer is “Amen de Jesus.”

“From that, from coming here in ’66 when they abolished the Sheriff’s office to my experience, knowledge and education, it’s just that,” he said. “I’m the chosen person to put everything back into perspective and start with a clean slate.”

DelaRua is running with an endorsement from Don Moreland, a retired five-term Marion Sheriff who in May was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame. Moreland was something of a mentor to DelaRua.

“His endorsement speaks volumes,” he said.

DelaRua doesn’t have any local endorsements, however, and despite being in the race longer, lacks the financial firepower many of his opponents possess.

“But people still fear me because I’m the outsider, and there’s a reason I left and came back. I can see,” he said. “I’m the one looking from the outside in, and I know where I need to fix the problems and make a better quality of life for our citizens.”

DelaRua sat down with Florida Politics to discuss his campaign. Below is a transcript of some of that conversation, edited for clarity and brevity.

Florida Politics: You’ve said that Miami-Dade County voters shouldn’t elect someone from within the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) because officers there have had years to make the changes they’re now promising to make. Can you expand on that?

DelaRua: They’ve had ample time since 1966 to correct the department. They have not. They have been governed by the Mayor, State Attorney and the powers that be. Everyone that’s gone through the ranks has been taught the same system.

We need somebody as Sheriff from the outside. That’s why I’m so animated about this. The beauty with me is I’ve got the police culture, which Miami-Dade County is under. And I have 26 years of Sheriff’s Office culture, which is totally different. We put citizens first. We hold our people accountable with transparency. We’re forward thinkers.

I’m all about faith, family and the Constitution. I report to the people. They get me elected, not the government. In the police culture, they appoint who’s going to be in whose pocket.

As Sheriff, we need a strong leader who understands the core values we need here and can teach. I’m not doing away with Miami-Dade County police officers. I want to embrace them and have them continue with me moving forward.

Part of the argument for bringing back the Sheriff’s Office was that the MDPD in its current structure as an agency led by a Mayor’s appointee isn’t directly answerable to citizens if it fails to meet their needs. Do you see it that way?

Absolutely. There was a reason why the government — and I’m not talking about the people, who got bamboozled — took all these constitutional offices like the Sheriff, Tax Collector and Supervisor of Elections and put them under the County Manager and now the Mayor, who controls everything.

That was the beginning of the corruption phase, moving forward to today. We should have just removed all those parties at the Sheriff’s Office who were involved in (the corruption leading up to its abolition) and kept it.

What is the difference between Sheriff culture and Police Department culture?

I’m not blaming the police officers who work here in Miami-Dade. I blame the leadership. Police culture, as we have it now, they’re very rude. They don’t look professional. They don’t put citizens first. They’re reactive, not proactive.

Crime is the way it is because of that leniency. It falls to the State Attorney, Mayor and every other leader who allows this to continue. And it can’t any longer.

Sheriff culture is about putting the people first. You drive by and see a vehicle disabled on the road, and you take care of them. You get to know your community. Everybody talks about (bridging gaps with the) community. The police working today should have been doing that.

We’ve got to make sure the community has a seat at our table, at my table, and that the programs we have are more (personal) versus the dark-tinted windows police cars have, the beards that aren’t up to standard.

When I was on the street, deputies who responded to a call were the main persons to investigate that case. That’s a service we don’t provide here. They have so many units that do other things. Nobody gets back to the community-first approach, which is what I want to bring back.

After retiring from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, you rejoined the Miami City Police Department in 2013. Why did you come back?

It was what God wanted me to do. When I became the first person to file for the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s race, I didn’t wait, didn’t waiver. I knew it was the right choice and time.

Miami-Dade needs a strong leader. I actually applied to be Chief of the Miami Police Department and Miami Beach Police Department. I’m an administrator. I retired as a commander.

I came to Miami-Dade as a child, left when I was 23. Miami-Dade is where my parents are buried, my grandparents. I grew up here. I have sisters here. My kids are here. My wife is here.

So, I applied. I got hired as a policeman, went to the street as a field training officer. I was in professional compliance, helping staff with policy. I’ve done everything you can think of — the jails, courthouses, the street.

You were involved in a life-threatening motorcycle crash in September while escorting a funeral service procession. At the time, you were already running for Sheriff, yet there was little to no coverage of it.

The sad thing about it is that because I’m not known as a candidate, nobody took an interest. That’s where the corruption shows. If it was anybody else, it would have been big news.

When that incident happened last year with (the attempted suicide of former Miami-Dade Police Director) Freddy Ramirez, it was totally handled wrong. There was no transparency, and it was on the news every day.

The Mayor handled it wrong. The State Attorney’s Office came out and said to please pray for Mr. Ramirez. I don’t wish him ill, but they don’t do that for anybody else. They’re not going to do it for me, because they know if the people elect me and I get into office, the way we do business is going to change.

I’m still recovering. I still go to therapy three times a week, three hours a day. I’m doing this for the people.

I was told the Christian Family Coalition didn’t invite me to a gathering because my campaign funds were less than $150,000. That’s not right.

In your first year as Sheriff, what three things do you hope to put in place that aren’t here now or are insufficient, by your standards?

I want to sit down with my transition team, audit the books and find out where our spending is going. I’m all about stewardship, and I’ve got to start saving money for the taxpayers, not giving it to the government.

I also want to educate the deputies on the Constitution and Florida’s policies and laws. I don’t want them to go out after I get sworn and violate anybody’s rights. I want the public to understand that when you see the star car, you understand the Sheriff has it under control and that transparency and accountability is at the forefront. Nobody is above the law.

I want to educate the public that we are professionals. Treat us professionally, and you will be treated the same. I’m not going to let the public embarrass our deputies, who are professionals doing their job protecting us.

I’m going to be the guy that’s in front of the camera when they do good, and I’ll be that same guy when we do bad.

I also want to create a corruption unit. The Internal Affairs Department and an independent civilian review panel will work collectively under the Sheriff’s Office and report directly to me, where there won’t be any bias and nobody can interfere with what the public needs to know.