Community Survey Results

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office launched its first community survey to hear from you. Your participation helped us better understand how residents view the services provided by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and strengthened the connection between our agency and the community we serve.

The survey was an important step in gathering community input as we continue working to build a strong, transparent and responsive Sheriff’s Office for Miami-Dade County. It also supports our commitment to maintaining the highest professional standards in law enforcement.

Thank you for taking the time to share your input and for being an important part of our community.

View the full MDSO Community Survey Report

Summary of Key Findings

  • Community Trust: 69% of respondents expressed high or very high trust in the Sheriff’s Office to keep the community safe. When combined with moderate trust, 93% of residents expressed some level of positive confidence in the agency.
  • Positive Community Impact: 76.15% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the Sheriff’s Office contributes positively to safety and quality of life in their community.
  • Fair Treatment: 70.76% agreed or strongly agreed that deputies treat community members fairly and with respect.
  • Responsiveness: 55.75% rated the Sheriff’s Office as very or extremely responsive to community concerns and complaints.
  • Visibility: 72% of residents notice deputies working in their communities at least sometimes, with 40.56% observing a deputy presence often or very often.
  • Knowledge Gap: Only 27.61% of residents reported being very or extremely familiar with the difference between the Sheriff’s Office and a police department. This represents the single most significant finding for strategic communication planning.
  • Service Identification Gap: 22.82% of respondents selected “Not sure” when asked which services are provided by the Sheriff’s Office, reinforcing the depth of the knowledge gap.
  • Top Public Safety Priorities: Keeping children and schools safe (85.97% very important), reducing violent crime (82%) and providing faster emergency response (77.36%) ranked as the community’s highest priorities.