Ed Hudak

Chief, Coral Gables Police Department

Ed Hudak has been in law enforcement for over 30 years and was named the chief of the Coral Gables Police Department in 2014. Since then, crime in Coral Gables has continued to decline. Chief Hudak is also the district director of the Florida Police Chiefs Association for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. He recently garnered both local and national attention when photos of the police chiefs kneeling in front of Coral Gables City Hall were picked up by news sources across the country. 

Latest Achievement

Worked with many other teams, including the city’s IT department and other Miami police departments, to ensure the Coral Gables protest remained peaceful. Chief Hudak has also served as an ally to the Black Lives Matter movement. “It was a very proud day from an operational standpoint,” he said at a virtual city commission meeting last month. “And obviously it was a very good day for us to hear the issues that are being raised across this country in a peaceful way.”

What He Says

At the commission meeting, Ed Hudak addressed rumors surrounding both the protest and the photo. “The reason that everyone was asked to take a knee was for Reverend Richardson to pray,” he said. “That’s it. There was no subliminal message, there was no endorsement of one side or the other. It was two groups of people praying for peace.” Less than a week after the protest, the organizers held a Zoom meeting with Hudak and the other Miami police chiefs to continue the dialogue about how to address police brutality and racism within law enforcement. Says Hudak, “I believe this is a time for action and we are going to be a part of it.”