About Brett Nichols

Author & former homicide detective

Meet the Author

Homicide Detective Brett Nichols grew up in Miami and graduated from the University of Miami. In 2008 he retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department after twenty-six years of service. He was hired at the peak of violence in Miami and led the nation in murders. The town had just experienced a horrific race riot, received 125,000 new Cuban immigrants from the Mariel boatlift, and had the cocaine cowboys fighting over territory.

After five years in uniformed patrol, he received a transfer to the major crimes section of the Crime Scene Investigative Bureau. His job was to process crime scenes for all types of death cases, sexual batteries, and robberies. During his nine years there he was the lead in over 300 homicides and assisted in thousands more. His hard work was noted by supervisors in other bureaus and he was soon asked to
apply for an open position in the Homicide Bureau.

He was the lead detective for thirty homicide cases over the next five years and assisted other detectives on hundreds of other cases. With the hours of overtime taking a toll on his family, he filled an opening in the Traffic Homicide Section. After becoming a trained accident reconstructionist he assumed the role of lead detective in over 300 traffic fatalities and was recognized as an expert witness.

Through his years of service, Detective Nichols received numerous awards from the department; the Life-Saving Award, a Silver Medal of Valor for assisting in the rescue/recovery of Value Jet Flight 592 in the Everglades, and two Exceptional Service Awards for investigative work. He also received dozens of commendations from victims’ families and numerous attorneys for his testimony in many homicide trials.