‘Operation Senior Shield’ campaign stop features Jay Collins, Ralph Rosado

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and Department of Elderly Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham are rolling into Miami Wednesday with his shiny new “Operation Senior Shield” program — and guess where they’re planting the flag? Vista Alegre Condominiums, the tucked-away senior housing complex off Calle Ocho that suddenly finds itself as ground zero for Tallahassee’s latest anti-fraud crusade.
Because nothing says “protecting seniors” quite like a weekday photo op with a bunch of politicians and a banner, amirite?
Operation Senior Shield isn’t a terrible idea. With Florida’s seniors getting targeted left, right, and center by scam artists — tech support cons, phony crypto investments, grandkid-in-jail sob stories — anything that gives abuelos a little extra protection is worth a look. The program promises:

Real-time scam alerts straight to your phone or inbox.
A statewide strike team with cops, cybersecurity experts, and senior advocates.
Even some cute-sounding “scam the scammers” training, where ethical hackers teach seniors how not to get taken.

Floridians can sign up free at opseniorshieldfl.com, and family members can get alerts, too. Great. We love it.
But Ladra can’t help but notice something… don’t we already have some of this? The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Department, the SAO, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement — they all already run elder fraud units, task forces, hotlines, educational events, and sting operations. We’ve had anti-scam campaigns since pagers were a thing.
So unless Collins is bringing something actually new — like guaranteed refunds or automatic robocall vaporization lasers — this looks suspiciously like a political gloss on existing work.
And Miami Commissioner Ralph Rosado doesn’t want to miss out on a little polish of his own. He will join the lieutenant governor for tomorrow’s Vista Alegre press conference, 2235 SW 8th St., which is funny because Rosado is not in Tallahassee and does not oversee state fraud enforcement. But if Collins is out here barnstorming senior buildings to boost statewide Republican messaging, you better believe Rosado wants a piece of that attention.
It’s a familiar playbook: Pick a senior building. Blame fraudsters. Praise law enforcement. Promise safety. Pose with grateful viejitos. Post on Facebook. Collect political capital.
Read related: Ralph Rosado’s new Miami D4 staff looks like a who’s who of what the f*ck
We’ve seen this movie before. This week it’s Vista Alegre. Next week it’ll be another Little Havana or Westchester condo with a sturdy multipurpose room and plenty of residents to line up behind the podium.
And somewhere between the bullet points about cybersecurity and empowerment, the whole thing starts to look far more like a campaign stop than a policy rollout.
Why Vista Alegre? Because it’s seniors are mostly Hispanic, mostly voters — and very photogenic for press conferences.
Also because it’s in District 4 and allows Rosado and Collins to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the very demographic that scammers “target,” while subtly nudging them toward who is supposedly protecting them. Expect lots of handshakes, lots of “mi amor,” and plenty of wide shots of the crowd.
Look, Ladra wants seniors protected, too. But Ladra also wants less political theater, more coordination with existing agencies, a real explanation of what’s new here besides the logo and website, and fewer campaign-style drop-ins masked as community outreach.
And is Rosado angling to join the VIP list of Miami officials receiving the state GOP’s warm embrace — the same love that has made former city manager and would-be mayoral wannabe Emilio González the current darling of the party?
Is this really about protecting seniors? Or is it about protecting political futures?
Because Miami seniors deserve real protection. And not to be used as props for a press conference.

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