About the Police Department

Proactive Approach

Our proactive approach to addressing crime and quality of life issues has resulted in consistent crime rate reductions since 2010. We are extremely pleased and exceptionally proud that our community's crime rate index continues to remain lower than that reported in 2002. We are dedicated to addressing crime and disorder by employing a variety of innovative and comprehensive crime control strategies.

Citizen Satisfaction

Our Department is pleased that our latest Citizen's Satisfaction Survey revealed that 92% of Margate's residents were confident in the department's ability to deal with criminal activity and address neighborhood problems.

Making Strides

We have, and continue to implement proactive departmental and community enhancement initiatives, including a comprehensive districting and accountability program. The Department's full-time Special Enforcement Team (SET) has made significant strides in working closely with our dedicated men and women in uniform and plain clothes. Our SET team targets criminal activity based on an analysis of crimes and victimization trends. We believe these initiatives, in concert with our exceptional community partnerships and our outstanding victim services, have been instrumental in our ability to effectively fight crime and enhance the quality of life in the community.

More Information

Additionally, the department's membership continues to embrace the guiding principles based on our collective vision, mission, and values. These guiding philosophical tenets enhance our entire membership's commitment to providing the optimal delivery of services to our community. Our slogan, “Policing is a Partnership,” underscores our reliance on community input to guide our delivery of law enforcement services.

If you have a non-emergency issue or community problem that you would like to bring to our attention, please feel free to e-mail us. We also welcome and solicit suggestions or comments to help us better serve the community.

We thank you for taking the time to visit our site. We hope you enjoy your visit, and we look forward to your return.

Michael Palma

Police Chief

Police Chief Palma has been a law enforcement officer for the Margate Police Department since 1995.  He attained his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University and his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership.  During his tenure with the department, he has been a patrol officer, field training officer, planning and research officer, Master Patrol Officer, and Detective.  He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2004.  In 2009, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.  He served as the Commander of the Support Services Bureau and the Neighborhood Policing Division.  In 2015, he was promoted to the rank of Captain, where he served as the Commander of the Investigative Services Bureau, Field Services Bureau, and Support Services Bureau. Michael is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute’s Command Officers Development School and Nova Southeastern University’s Executive Leadership program.   He was promoted to the rank of Major in May 2022.  

He was sworn in as Police Chief on September 19, 2024.