Join the Community-Police Mediation Program

The City of Miami Community-Police Mediation Program (CPMP) aims to improve relationships and build understanding between the community and the City of Miami Police Department (MPD). We provide community members and police officers the unique opportunity to have a face-to-face conversation to address conflict in their interactions with each other, be heard and understood, hear each other’s perspectives, and come to their own agreements about moving forward.

The mediation program is currently full, but check this page at a later date if you're interested in becoming a mediator. 

The CPMP is a program of the Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), an independent, civilian police oversight agency whose mission is to improve police service to the community, citizen trust in the MPD, and officer safety and working conditions.  

You role as a mediator lasts for two years. There will be a stipend paid to mediators, per each mediation they attend. 

Online

Confirm Eligibility

Applicants must be able to fulfill the following requirements and commitments:

  • Live, works or own property in City of Miami area
  • Commit to serving at least two (2) years as a mediator
  • Available and committed to mediating at least four (4) cases per year. Mediations typically take place Monday through Friday between 9am and 7pm and require about 3 hours of time. We try to schedule mediations as quickly as possible once a case is referred, so mediators must have enough flexibility to do a mediation with about 4-7 days’ notice.
  • Attend the mandatory 50-hour training one-time, which will take place over six (6) days, and
  • Attend four (4) professional development sessions throughout the year, which usually take place from 5:30-8:30pm on weekday evenings.

Apply to be a Mediator

 The mediator roles are currently full, but check back at another time if you're interested. 

Await a Response

The CIP and MPD will select interviewees from the pool of applicants and contact those for an interview. If you are contacted, you will need to attend one interview with representatives from both departments.

At that point, ten mediators will be selected. 

Attend Training

The CIP has developed a comprehensive training program, which not only prepares participants to mediate police-community conflict, but is offered free of charge. Training of this nature often costs hundreds of dollars, but CIP offers is at no charge to ensure that our mediators reflect the community’s diversity with regard to age, race, income, education, gender, and ethnicity.

The ten selected mediators will attend the mandatory 50-hour training, over the course of six days, in which they will become trained in all aspects of the program, our model of mediation, and how to mediate a case from start to finish. Training is interactive and hands-on and includes a strong focus on role-playing and coaching to develop the mediator’s skills.

Begin Mediating Cases

Once trained, mediators will be eligible to mediate cases. Cases are referred on a rolling basis throughout the year. Once a case is scheduled for mediation, a request to the pool of mediators will be sent about 4-7 days in advance of the mediation date.

Mediators reply as soon as possible with their availability and are selected based on availability and matching demographics of the participants. We use a co-mediation model, so two mediators are assigned per case. Mediations typically occur Monday through Friday between 9am and 7pm, with an occasional Saturday mediation. Mediators should expect a case to take approximately 3 hours. Mediations take place at libraries, recreation centers, and non-profit meeting rooms across the city. After each mediation, mediators return surveys and a brief report to the program director and the case is closed. Mediators are provided with a stipend per mediation session.

PLEASE NOTE: The CIP provides extensive mediation training, that normally would cost hundreds of dollars, free of charge. In return, active participation in the program - which means being available to mediate at least 4 cases per year and attending 4 in-service trainings, as listed in the selection criteria above – is required.