Melissa Barosela has been a member of the Miami-Dade Police Department for the past 28 years, currently serving as the Major of the Mental Health and Wellness Bureau. In this role, she supervises the Crisis Response Unit, the Threat Management Unit, the Victim Advocate Program, and the Crisis and Hostage Negotiator Team. She also oversees the Psychological Services Section, which offers a comprehensive and robust mental wellness program for all departmental employees to include a full spectrum of clinical, psychoeducational, and consultation services such as individual, couples, and group counseling; critical incident response; and crisis or suicide intervention. Major Barosela was responsible for the recent development and implementation of the Crisis Response Unit to respond to mental health crises in the community and has significantly expanded the scope of mental health services provided to Miami-Dade Police Department employees during her tenure.
In addition to her role with the Miami-Dade Police Department, Major Barosela has also been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida for over 15 years and provides various mental health services for several municipal police agencies through her private practice.
She has taught hundreds of courses related to law enforcement mental health and has served as a subject matter expert on various mental health-related panels. Major Barosela also participates in the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Psychological Services Group meetings, as well as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Psychological Services Section meetings and their Officer Wellness Symposiums. She is a member of the Florida Association of Hostage Negotiators, the National Tactical Officers Association, the Police Benevolent Association, the Hispanic Police Officers Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives.
Major Barosela graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Summa Cum Laude from Barry University with a Master of Science in Counseling.