The patrol division of the Miami Police Dept consists of 23 sworn, officers. This is the uniformed division of the police dept, who whether by assignment or voluntarily provide a number of services and/or functions for the police dept, the city, and the surrounding communities and agencies.

Officers assigned to the patrol division are the officers that take the front line in fighting crime in the City of Miami. They are the officers that are highly visible patrolling the neighborhoods in our marked police cruisers. The Patrol officer is responsible for a large number of services and calls for help, in addition to his normal patrol duties, which include:

•  Enforcing city ordinances, state laws, and federal statutes

•  Preserving the public peace

•  Preventing, detecting and investigating crimes

•  Protecting lives, property and individual rights

•  Apprehending and prosecuting offenders

Officers are initially assigned to the patrol division upon their employment. See police applicant selection process page for a list of qualifications and requirements for employment as a police officer. Once hired officers are required to attend and successfully graduate from the Council for Law Enforcement Education and Training (C.L.E.E.T.) academy. This is a 505-hour academy in which a recruit learns the basic necessary skills required to be an officer. C.L.E.E.T. standards require at least 17 hours a year in continuing education. The Miami Police department strives to make our officers the best and most highly trained officers possible, it is not uncommon for our officers to attend 100-150 hours of continuing education classes in a year. As a result of our training we have several officers who have specialized in certain areas to become C.L.E.E.T. certified instructors in several selected specialties. Some of these specialties include:

•  2 Firearms instructors

•  2 Self defense instructors

•  9 Instructors certified in training all non-specialized C.L.E.E.T. courses

As a result of this training we have several officers who have earned an intermediate or advanced Law enforcement certification issued by C.L.E.E.T. To earn an advanced certification an officer must attend numerous hours of continuing education, have experience in the field and possess an associates, or bachelors degree. The Advanced certification is a complex system of computing points for training, education and experience. An officer of 10 years must have at least 97 points to gain the certification. The basic 505-hour academy is worth 15 points. His additional points must come from a degree and continuing education classes. Through training alone it takes 1500 hours to earn an advanced certification. Miami Police department has 19 officers who have strived to accomplish this task and have been awarded either an intermediate or an advanced law enforcement certification.

Upon completion of their initial training, our officers are then assigned to one of three shifts; Day shift (7:00-3:00), Evening shift (3:00-11:00), or nightshift (11:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.). Our officers work a five-day, 40-hour week. Days off are based on seniority per shift. The officer gets two consecutive days off rotated through the week. I.e. Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday. Officers maintain a consistent schedule and are allowed to bid on shift assignments every six months based on seniority. This schedule does not include special assignments, court appearances, filing of charges, or the many schools and other activities required by the performance of their duties. Our patrol shifts are composed of seven officers, a shift lieutenant, shift sergeant and five patrol officers. Each officer is assigned a district and is responsible for all calls within that district.

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