Hallandale Beach honors Detective Sandra Harris; deputy clerk earns CMC and longtime employee honored on retirement

The Hallandale Beach City Commission used part of its June 4 meeting to recognize city employees and a community resident who praised the police department.

Detective Sandra Harris, of the Hallandale Beach Police Department, was honored for her investigative work and for receiving the Broward Sheriff's Advisory Council Medal of Valor earlier this year. Mayor Joyce F. Cooper praised Harris and the department and announced that Harris had been nominated and selected as Hallandale Beach Officer of the Year for 2024.

Why it matters: The commission’s recognition highlights years of investigative work on serious crimes and signals departmental accomplishments to the community. Detectives and task-force officers who work cross-jurisdictionally may influence public safety outcomes beyond the city.

Details of Harris’s work as presented to the commission: Captain Catherine, Harris’s immediate supervisor, outlined Harris’s progression from records clerk in 2011 to task-force homicide detective assigned to the FBI in 2024. The captain told the commission Harris investigated multiple complex cases in 2024, including child-molestation allegations that produced multiple felony charges presented to a grand jury, a murder/attempted murder on Pembroke Road that led to multiple search warrants and arrests, and seven death investigations ranging from overdoses to suicides. The captain said Harris’s 2024 investigations included authoring dozens of search warrants, subpoenas and substantial case files.

Mayor Joyce F. Cooper said: "Detective Harris, your leadership and bravery are a true inspiration. You've gone above and beyond the call to duty on protecting the city and on behalf of everyone here in the city of Hallandale Beach, congratulations, well deserved." Detective Harris responded, "First and foremost, I wanna thank God for allowing me the strength to investigate and continue to investigate, and bring justice to the victims that can't speak and the victims that are vulnerable." (Spoken remarks transcribed verbatim at the meeting.)

Other staff recognitions: Deputy City Clerk Anastasia Leon was recognized by a representative of the Florida Association of City Clerks for earning the Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) designation. The speaker summarized the CMC program and noted Leon’s work history with the city since 2020, her promotion to deputy city clerk in 2022, and her ongoing pursuit of the Master Municipal Clerk designation.

Retirement proclamation: The commission read a proclamation honoring Carrie Esther Santiago for more than 23 years of service to the city. The proclamation traces Santiago’s hiring in 2002 and lists successive promotions and her long tenure supporting the city manager’s and commission offices. Santiago addressed the commission and described her service as "an amazing journey" and said she looks forward to retirement while remaining available to help as needed.

Public comment and community praise: Resident Ignacio Sanchez offered public comment at the start of the meeting, praising Hallandale Beach law enforcement and specifically noting Detective Sandra Harris’s role in county-level investigations; Jeff Roberts, a resident and homeowners-association leader from Venetian Park East, later commended the police department for responsiveness to local quality-of-life complaints.

What was not decided: The recognitions were ceremonial. The meeting included no formal disciplinary actions, contract awards or changes to department staffing tied to the honors presented.

Next steps: The city will proceed with planned award ceremonies and personnel recognitions. No follow-up policy actions were announced during the meeting related to these recognitions.