For decades, the Miami police department has spawned storylines of political plots, strife within the ranks and tension with citizens.

But these days, the tumult often starts or is fueled on a website called Leoaffairs.com.

For better or worse, the Tampa-based website – which features anonymous and open-to-all message boards for over 500 police agencies in 18 countries – has played an integral role in many of the department’s dramatic storylines of the past year.

During the tumultuous tenure of former Miami Chief Miguel Exposito, the messages boards exploded with vitriolic comments from both opponents and supporters, trading barbs and accusations that later surfaced in news accounts and at City Hall.

The Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale police, voted in August to boycott the site, a symbolic but unenforceable gesture spurred by users criticizing South Florida union leadership.

And most visibly, users on the site were the first to break news of the controversial October traffic stop of a Miami police officer by a screaming gun-wielding Florida Highway Patrol trooper.

Video of the stop went viral, as some anonymous posters threatened the trooper, fueling tension between the agencies that culminated when another Miami cop pulled over a trooper in retaliation.

Critics say the website unfairly allows a few disgruntled officers and citizens to sow rumors, gossip and false allegations. “I fully support free speech, but free speech when you can put a name to it,” said Miami’s FOP Vice President Javier Ortiz, himself a frequent target on the site. “We don’t give that website any credibility, and we don’t think it’s the voice of law enforcement.”

But supporters and the site’s operator say the site is an important tool of free speech aimed at promoting positive changes for the rank-and-file and exposing wrongs within departments.

“If you have a closed system, only cops talking to cops, nothing is going to get accomplished,” said the site’s co-founder, Chip DeBlock, a Tampa police detective. “By opening up the format, with the media and general public being involved, we can affect change.”

DeBlock and retired Tampa sergeant Jim Preston started the website in 2002 as an easy way for officers to obtain information on whistle-blower laws and the rights of officers during internal affairs investigation. LEO stands “for law enforcement officer.”

When message boards and chat rooms were added — and advertisers too — the site took off “like wildfire,” DeBlock said.

Early on, DeBlock said, users comments sparked publicity that spurred safety measures, such as equipping St. Petersburg officers with carbine rifles, as well as pushing a four-day work week for personnel. The site also touts other policy victories, such as the creation of shelters for first-responders during hurricanes, and Florida probation officers earning the ability to carry firearms.

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in Washington D.C., said the website is a technological extension of grievance and whistle-blower complaint systems that have existed for years. But like institutions from universities to governments, police departments have struggled to accept the reach of websites that offer unfiltered criticism.