Robert Parker

Senior Leadership Council

Until recently, Robert Parker served as the Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), the largest local police department in the Southeastern United States. As leader of the MDPD, he was responsible for providing public safety services for more than 2.4 million residents and visitors of Miami-Dade County, overseeing the 8th largest police department in the country with an annual budget of over $548 million and more than 4,700 dedicated sworn and non-sworn personnel. The Department is known nationally as a leader in law enforcement and is proud to have achieved accreditation from two agencies, the Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), and the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA), documenting its commitment to the highest level of service.

Over the course of his 33 distinguished years with the Department, Parker was consistently singled out as a leader and promoted through all of the agency’s civil service ranks. For example, he served as Assistant Director of Police Services responsible for the operations of three divisions and two bureaus, including the nine uniform district stations; Division Chief of the North Operations Division and the Special Investigations Division; Major in charge of a district command; and Police Bureau Commander in charge of the Economic Crimes and Strategic Investigations Bureaus. He also worked in a variety of other investigative and uniformed police assignments as a Lieutenant, Master Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal and Officer.

During his tenure as Director he was appointed by the Governor of Florida to serve as co-chair of the Southeast Regional Domestic Security Task Force. He was also elected President of the Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police which is comprised of over 35 municipal police departments along with other state and federal law enforcement member agencies.

As MDPD Director, Robert Parker was one of the several leaders of member jurisdictions supporting Major Cities Chiefs’ focus on developing standardized reporting guidelines for the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reports Initiative (NSI). Under Parker’s direction the MDPD participated in the SAR Support and Implementation Project report, developed to provide findings and recommendations to the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC) from the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). Parker was also instrumental and provided key leadership and support to the establishment of the first ever mortgage fraud task force within a local law enforcement agency in the State of Florida, a high-profile initiative that became the model and template for the first State of Florida mortgage fraud task force.

Parker holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Barry University and a Master’s Degree from Nova Southeastern University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI National Executive Institute at Quantico, Virginia. Additionally, Parker has honorably served in the United States Army.

His professional affiliations include the International Association Chiefs of Police (IACP), FBI National Executive Institute, FBI National Academy Associates, National Sheriffs’ Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Florida Police Chiefs Association, Florida Sheriffs’ Association, Major Cities Chiefs, Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police, The Two Hundred Club of Greater Miami, 5000 Role Models of Excellence, the Spirit of Christ Ministries, Inc., and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Moreover, he has received numerous commendations and awards for his service and dedication to community and public service.