{"id":309533,"date":"2026-06-16T19:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/309533\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T19:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:18:08","slug":"edwin-lopez-sworn-in-as-next-city-of-miami-police-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/309533\/","title":{"rendered":"Edwin Lopez sworn in as next city of Miami police chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Honorable<\/p>\n

Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez takes the oath of office next to his wife, Jannet Lopez, while being sworn in by Honorable Judge Orlando A. Prescott at the Ziff Ballet Opera House on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami. Lopez, who previously served as deputy chief, was joined by city officials, family members and community leaders as he formally assumed leadership of the department. The ceremony marked a new chapter for the city’s police force.<\/p>\n

Carl Juste<\/p>\n

cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

Edwin Lopez has been sworn in as the next police chief in the city of Miami, formalizing a changing of the guard as Mayor Eileen Higgins enters her sixth month in office.<\/p>\n

Lopez, who\u2019s led the Doral Police Department for the last three years, said during his swearing-in ceremony Tuesday at the Arsht Center\u2019s Ziff Ballet Opera House that he wants to balance \u201ccompassionate\u201d policing with a \u201czero tolerance\u201d approach to crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who preys on any vulnerable member of our community, you have my commitment that we will work relentlessly to put them behind bars,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

\"Miami Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez talks with members of the press after his swearing-in ceremony at the Ziff Ballet Opera House on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Lopez is replacing outgoing Police Chief Manuel Morales, who was named chief during the previous administration under former Mayor Francis Suarez. Following the dramatic ouster of former Police Chief Art Acevedo<\/a>, Morales took over as interim chief<\/a> in 2021. He officially became chief<\/a> in early 2022, helming the Miami Police Department for Suarez\u2019s second mayoral term.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s hiring is an extension of the city\u2019s leadership changes under Higgins. Lopez was chosen by Miami City Manager James Reyes, whom Higgins selected<\/a> shortly after her December election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like Higgins and Reyes, who both came from the county, Lopez is a newcomer to Miami city government. He spent the bulk of his law enforcement career with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department before he became Doral police chief in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Current Edwin Lopez attended his last Doral City Council meeting as police chief on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, before his departure to become the new police chief in the city of Miami. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

READ MORE: Who is Edwin Lopez, Miami\u2019s new police chief from Doral?<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking at Tuesday\u2019s ceremony, Higgins said Lopez \u201cis not a stranger to this community. He is a product of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor addressed the topic of immigration, noting that about one out of every two Miami residents are foreign-born.<\/p>\n

Last summer, under the previous city administration and Morales\u2019 leadership, the City Commission voted 3-2 to enter what\u2019s known as a 287(g) agreement<\/a> with ICE. A year later, the city\u2019s immigration enforcement agreement with ICE remains intact. Higgins has said she opposes the agreement but that it\u2019s up to the City Commission<\/a> to move to undo it, since she does not have a vote on the commission.<\/p>\n

Commissioners are planning to discuss the city\u2019s 287(g) agreement at the next meeting on June 25.<\/p>\n

\"Miami Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez gives remarks after taking the oath of office during his swearing-in ceremony at the Ziff Ballet Opera House on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Higgins said Tuesday that under Lopez\u2019s leadership, \u201cevery person in this city \u2014 regardless of immigration status \u2014 will be treated with dignity, respect and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Miami Herald after the ceremony, Lopez said his \u201czero tolerance\u201d philosophy does not apply to immigration enforcement, but to \u201cpeople that are trying to harm children, people that are breaking into houses, people that are stealing cars, people that are murderers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my main priority here,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cThat\u2019s my zero-tolerance mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newly minted chief said he will be focused on enforcing Florida statutes. Asked if he plans on collaborating with federal immigration enforcement officials, Lopez said he needs to evaluate any existing agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my priority is not to enforce anything related to immigration,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Lopez starts the job as Miami\u2019s top cop with a $325,000 salary<\/a> \u2014 over $70,000 more than the approximately $254,000 he earned in Doral.<\/p>\n

\"Outgoing Outgoing Police Chief Manuel Morales waves to supporters after incoming Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez acknowledged his contribution and guidance. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The pay bump comes with increased responsibilities. Lopez will go from overseeing a department with about 200 sworn officers in a city with over 81,000 residents to leading the Miami Police Department\u2019s nearly 1,400 sworn officers in a city with about a half-million residents.<\/p>\n

The Herald reported in late April that Lopez was a leading candidate<\/a> to replace Morales, who is slated for retirement this year. Last month, Reyes publicly named Lopez<\/a> as the next police chief, with the caveat that there would be a \u201ctransition period\u201d between Morales leaving and Lopez taking over.<\/p>\n

Morales\u2019 last day as chief was Sunday, according to city spokeswoman Helena Poleo, and Lopez assumed the role of chief on Monday. For now, Morales will stay on in an advisory role.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s hiring in Miami set off something of a ripple effect among local law enforcement agencies, with Miami Springs Police Chief Matthew Castillo taking over Lopez\u2019s position<\/a> as the top cop in Doral. Castillo is scheduled to be sworn in as Doral police chief on Wednesday.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Tess Riski covers Miami City Hall. She joined the Miami Herald in 2022 and has covered local politics throughout Miami-Dade County. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School\u2019s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez takes the oath of office next to his wife, Jannet Lopez, while being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-309533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}