Our Mission
It is the mission of the Sweetwater Police Department to safeguard the lives and property of the people we serve, reduce crime, and enhance public safety. We are committed to working in partnership with our community to improve their quality of life.
Our Vision
The vision of the Sweetwater Police Department is to deliver the best level of service to the community, to be a leader in policing, and to continuously strive to be the finest law enforcement agency in Miami-Dade County. We will do this by living up to our core values of integrity in all we say and do, a strong commitment to public service, always demonstrating respect to our community members and each other and providing strong leadership and constant innovation of our service levels.
Core Values
The Sweetwater Police Department’s core values form the foundation on which we perform our duties and conduct ourselves. These values are used as a guide and source of inspiration for all that we say and do. They are an integral part of our daily operations and ensure that our personal and professional behavior reflect our highest traditions of excellence:
A. Service
We are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service to the community to safeguard lives and property, reduce crime, and enhance public safety. We will work in partnership with the community to resolve community problems that affect the quality of life and public safety. We value proactive problem solving and enforcement in order to reduce the incidences of crime and fear of crime. We continuously work to fulfill our oath as public servants by responding to the needs of those we serve.
B. Integrity
A fundamental mandate of our profession is to conduct ourselves with the highest level of integrity that merits the respect of the people we serve. We will always act with honesty and transparency in everything we say and do. Our actions will always be consistent with our core values, our code of ethics, and the law. We will always maintain our commitment by having a reverence of the law in both our personal and professional lives, regardless of the situation. We are proud of the traditions of our chosen profession and recognize that our actions must continually justify the trust bestowed to us by those we serve.
C. Respect
We serve people in a wide variety of situations that have different needs. We will treat all people, including each other, with fairness and impartiality. We show concern and empathy for victims and treat suspects with fairness and dignity. We understand that we are not granted respect, but rather we earn respect by demonstrating respect in all that we do.
D. Leadership
We expect all of our personnel to be leaders within the organization and within the community. We lead by example and utilize appropriate discretion while never acting officiously. As leaders, we are committed to incorporating our core values in our daily work and carrying out our department mission. The future of our organization and our ability to serve the community is strongly dependent upon developing leaders within our organization. Mentoring personnel and empowering them with the proper training and experience is crucial to maintaining continuity of leadership.
E. Innovation
We will always seek opportunities to improve our quality and level of service. We recognize that improvement is a continuous process that has no end. We value innovation by our employees and our community partners. We support creativity and proactively seek opportunities to find improved and more effective ways to carry out our mission and our commitment to the community we serve.