Special Victims Bureau

1701 NW 87th Ave.
Suite 120
Doral, FL 33172
Phone: 305-715-3300
Fax: 305-715-3390
Email: svbinfo@mdpd.com
Major: Luis Almaguer

The Special Victims Bureau (SVB) is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide an immediate response along with swift follow-up criminal investigations to allegations of sexual and domestic crimes, child and elderly abuse, missing persons, and the enforcement of Federal, State and local regulations on sexual predators and sexual offenders.

If you're the victim of any of these crimes, please get help.

In addition, the SVB serves as a liaison to community agencies and the criminal justice system by offering assistance and guidance to victims in accordance with the guidelines provided by the State of Florida Attorney General's Office for the fair treatment of victims.

Victim Advocates assigned to the SVB work alongside detectives to offer victims emotional support and crisis intervention. They follow up with victims to ensure that their emergency needs are met and offer referrals for other long term needs such as counseling, shelter, legal assistance, and other miscellaneous needs.

Investigations Section

Special Victims Bureau's Investigations Section supervises three units:

The Sexual Crimes Investigations Unit investigates all sexual batteries, attempted sexual batteries, and lewd and lascivious offenses. It provides centralized sexual crimes investigative services including sexual battery on persons, and lewd and lascivious assaults, in accordance with Florida Statutes (FS) 794 and 800.

The following squads are also assigned to the Sexual Crimes Investigations Unit:

• Cold Case Squad: Reviews cold case files (criminal investigations in which all viable leads have been exhausted) and supportive investigative documents to determine if there is evidence with viable DNA that can be submitted for analysis. The Unit also investigates those cases where a suspect has been identified via DNA analysis.
• Department of Children and Families Squad: Conducts criminal investigations, including sexual battery and lewd and lascivious reports, in which both the victim and the subject are 13 years of age or younger.

The Domestic Crimes Investigations Unit investigates all departmental activities related to domestic crimes and is composed of the following squads:

• Domestic Crimes Investigations Squad: Conducts investigations for all types of domestic violence incidents including stalking situations.
• Missing Persons Squad: Investigates cases involving missing persons, abductions, and runaways.

The Vulnerable Victims Unit coordinates all departmental activities related to child abuse and neglect cases involving care givers. The Unit also investigates all cases of abuse and neglect of the elderly. In addition, the Unit reviews daily intake reports from the Department of Children and Families Squad and responds to incidents meeting the criteria for an investigation.

Sexual Predator and Offender Unit

The Sexual Predator and Offender Unit (SPOU) gathers, analyzes, disseminates and maintains investigative information on all sexual predators and sexual offenders who reside within unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The SPOU monitors the activities and addresses of these sexual predators and offenders to ensure compliance with F.S 775.21, FS 943.0435, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) guidelines.

Additionally, the SPOU processes sexual predators and offenders for registration and re-registration in accordance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act while taking enforcement actions when necessary to ensure compliance.

The SPOU ensures compliance with F.S. 775.21, which requires the Department to make community notifications within 48 hours whenever a sexual predator moves to a permanent or temporary residence within a one-mile radius of any public or private school or day care facility within unincorporated Miami-Dade. Further, the SPOU utilizes a supplementary high-speed telephone alert notification system to alert residents in the area of the new predator’s residence.

The SPOU also maintains additional community notification programs, such as bulletins on the Miami-Dade Television (MDTV) channel informing the public of absconded and wanted sexual predators and offenders, community presentations, and the Miami-Dade Police, Sexual Predator and Offender website.