Mayor appoints interim Miami-Dade police chief after Ramirez shooting
DORAL, Florida. — Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed a new interim county police chief on Monday after acting director Freddie Ramirez shot himself Sunday.
In a letter to the Levin County Commissioners, Kawa announced that she had appointed Deputy Director Stephanie W. Daniels to the position of Interim Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department “until further notice.”
She also appointed Chief of Corrections and Medical Examiner J.D. Patterson as Interim Chief of Public Safety, who oversees the MDPD, Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation, Miami-Dade Emergency Management, and the Medical Examiner. Miami-Dade office.
Ramirez holds both positions, although officials have not commented on his future with the department while he recovers from injuries.
Daniels, who grew up in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, has been with the department since 1992. She was the first black woman to be appointed assistant director of the MDPD and the first woman to be appointed deputy director.
During her promotion to assistant director in 2016, then-director Juan Pérez said he couldn’t think of anyone more tenacious, respected and honest for the role.
Patterson was a longtime MDPD officer and eventually became the director of the agency after then-mayor Carlos Jiménez named him the county’s chief police officer in 2013.
Patterson moves on to the old role, at least temporarily; he previously served as chief public security officer under Levin Kava before she moved him to lead the corrections department as a result of a personnel reshuffle in 2022.
“Please join me in continuing to pray for Chief Ramirez’s speedy recovery as we thank Deputy Director Daniels and Chief Patterson for their service,” Levin Kawa wrote to the commissioners.
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