The FBI has launched a broad investigation of the Miami Police Department, suspecting pervasive corruption, subpoenaing the records of 25 officers. Miami cops have been charged with murder, with shooting up a drug dealer's house, with conspiring to sell police radios and badges, and with drug dealing. Based upon interviews with persons familiar with Miami and the history of its police department, many suggest that the incidents of corruption stem from factors that have impacted the city itself. Until 1960 Miami was small and southern. Police officers were white males. Most were dedicated military veterans. They could expect that if they worked hard, played by the rules, and were intelligent enough, they could get regular promotions over the years. In the 1950's Hispanics were virtually nonexistent in the city and on the force. There were African-American officers, but the department was segregated. Slowly, the department integrated. In the 1970's Cubans were becoming a majority of the city's residents, and the police were apparently not adjusting. The U.S. Justice Department began demanding an affirmative action program by threatening to cut off all Federal funds unless 56 percent of all new officers were from minority groups. In 1980 a flood of new immigrants from Mariel, some of whom were career criminals impacted Miami, and the Liberty City riots occurred. A police hiring frenzy began. Although city officials insist that they never lowered standards in the new hiring binge, many observers think that it was this rush for new officers, not affirmative action in itself, that led to the department's future problems. The pressure to put more new officers on the streets quickly is believed by many interviewed for this study to have been the primary factor in the department's vulnerability to corruption. The constant turnover in city leadership also proved to be a problem, since long-term planning and reorganization became impossible without a consistent policy from city politicians. This chapter concludes with a discussion of what the future may hold under efforts to reform the department's organizational structure and hiring practices. Questions for discussion and suggested student applications of the chapter material