Jesse Scheckner
There will undoubtedly be many changes under incoming Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz. But one thing will remain the same between the soon-to-be dissolved Miami-Dade Police Department and the new county Sheriff’s Office: the brown uniforms.
Most Sheriff’s Offices in Florida employ a green dress code for their sworn officers. Florida Statutes mandate that Sheriff’s Office vehicles use green and white.
But in Miami-Dade, county cops have long worn light brown shirts and dark brown pants. And there won’t be a palette switch any time soon, Cordero-Stutz said, adding that the official name of the incoming agency is the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, or MDSO.
“We will be remaining in our brown gown, (which) has a lot of rich history. We have done some very good work, and we want to ensure that our community knows who we are,” she told attendees at a Miami’s Community News event in South Miami on Thursday.
“My shield will change to a five-point star, and you might see some (other) changes along the way, minor ones, but reasonable ones. (But) it’s also a very large fiscal impact to change the uniforms of 3,200 sworn officers.”
Cordero-Stutz, a Republican who has served with the Miami-Dade Police Department for nearly three decades, defeated Democrat James Reyes last month to earn the right to be the county’s first Sheriff in almost 60 years.
Reyes, a longtime Broward County jail warden, joined Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s administration in 2022. Levine Cava first hired him to run the county’s Corrections Department. The Mayor promoted him to Chief of Public Safety, a role in which he oversaw the Police, Corrections and Fire Departments, last year.
After the Sheriff’s Office begins operations next month, the Corrections Department will remain under the purview of Levine Cava, who serves in a “strong Mayor” capacity. But with much of the “public safety” responsibility shifting to the Sheriff’s Office, which stands independent from the Mayor’s administration, Reyes’ job title may change again, for the third time in three years.
Cordero-Stutz thinks a conversation about that possibility should happen soon.
“It’s important for the Mayor, her staff and the organization to determine what the best moves are for his role in the future,” she told Florida Politics. “There’s definitely still a lot of work that needs to be done in public safety.”
Cordero-Stutz, who rose through the ranks of the Miami-Dade Police Department to her current role as Assistant Director, defeated Reyes with 55.6% of the vote Nov. 5.
Her victory came less than two months after she outpaced 10 others in a GOP Primary to clinch her spot on the General Election ballot.
Several of her Primary opponents were fellow Miami-Dade Police officers. Most went on to endorse her.
Cordero-Stutz will be sworn in as Sheriff on Jan. 7. Her annual salary through 2028, when the job will next be up for grabs, is $305,000.
