Leon County Sheriff's Office (Florida)
| Leon County Sheriff's Office (Florida) | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | LCSO |
 Logo of the Leon County Sheriff's Office (Florida) | |
| Agency overview | |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | County (US) of Leon in the state of Florida, USA |
 | |
| Map of Leon County Sheriff's Office (Florida)'s jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 701.78 sq mi (1,817.6 km2). |
| Population | 275,487 |
| Legal jurisdiction | County |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Agency executive | Mike Wood, Sheriff |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Leon County Sheriff's Office is the chief law enforcement entity for Leon County, Florida, USA.
Sheriff's Staff
The command staff of the Leon County Sheriff's Office includes:
- Office of Professional Standards which maintains accreditation status with the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation. The OPS also reviews office facilities, property, equipment, personnel, administrative, operational and detention activities through staff inspections and policy reviews.
- Public Information Office, a publicly supported office which exists solely to meet the needs of the citizens of Leon County through over 20 media outlets in Leon County.
- Office of Legal Counsel is available 24 hours a day and provides legal advice and counsel to the Sheriff and Sheriff's Office employees on a variety of legal matters regarding criminal law, civil and administrative law. Legal Counsel also conducts in-service training classes on various law enforcement topics such as arrests, search and seizure, civil liability, use of force, trial preparation, depositions and testifying in court.
- Office of Internal Affairs reviews and investigates complaints and allegations against agency members to insure LCSO employees abide by agency policies and conduct themselves ethically. The OIA investigates inmate deaths, inmate escapes, allegations of corruption and perjury, gross misconduct, allegations of the use of excessive force or brutality, any use of lethal force, violations of civil rights, incidents which are time consuming and require or involve multiple divisions/sections or when investigative resources are unavailable, sexual harassment, harassment in the work place, and all other administrative investigations assigned by the Sheriff.
Administration
The Administration Division is headed by a Chief Administrative Of|ficer. This Division consists of the Human Resources Office, Records, Fiscal Operations, Fleet Maintenance, Facility Maintenance, and Technology Support Sections.
Patrol units
The Uniform Patrol Bureau of the Leon County Sheriff's Office comprises 82 Deputy Sheriffs and Supervisors. Law enforcement is provided to a 702 square miles (1,820 km2) area of unincorporated Leon County. Leon County uses the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor as its main patrol vehicle. Five marked vehicles with five deputies are used for traffic enforcement. Each of these units has three on-board video cameras, six on-board radar units, one hand-held radar unit, and two laser guns for conducting hit and run investigations, traffic homicide investigations, and DUI/traffic enforcement checkpoints. The LCSO also utilizes the Harley Davidson Police Motorcycle.[1]
Forest patrol
The LCSO has one deputy with the unique job of assisting National Forest Service personnel and Federal law enforcement officers in patrolling the Apalachicola National Forest, the largest national forest in the state at 564,000 acres (2,280 km2) which borders Leon County on the southwest.
Communications
The Telecommunications Unit of the LCSO consists of 34 trained telecommunications officers and the integral systems of telephone communications, command and operations, and radio communications. Resources include the administrative/landline telephones, TTD for the Deaf/Hearing Impaired, 9-1-1/Emergency Management consoles including Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf/Hearing Impaired, NCIC/FCIC (National Crime Information Center/Fla. Crime Information Center) and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information System) terminals. The NAWAS (National Warning System) and ESATCOM (Emergency Satellite Communications System) are also valuable and reliable resources.
K-9 units
The LCSO K-9 Unit consists of four deputies and canines, plus a sergeant who assist with locating missing persons, the apprehension and detention of violators or suspected violators, conducting building searches and the detection of illegal contraband.
Mounted posse
The LCSO has a mounted posse used for parades, crowd control, search and rescue, and patrolling large events such as football games, county fairs and the Red Hills Horse Trials.[2]
Currently the Mounted Posse consists of an open position of Captain, two Lieutenants, three Sergeants and 20 additional members. The MP has both sworn (deputized) and non-sworn (civilian) members.
The MP is a volunteer unit with all maintenance and transportation costs for the members' mounts covered by the membership without taxpayer dollars.[3]
Criminal Investigations Bureau
- Violent Crimes Unit - Investigates domestic violence, sexual battery, child abuse (including child sexual abuse), aggravated battery, missing persons (including parental abductions), death both criminal and non-criminal i.e. suicide).
- Property Unit - Investigates burglaries, thefts, vandalism, animal cruelty, arson, dealing in stolen property and various other property related crimes. The unit has 10 detectives is supervised and directed by 2 detective sergeants.
- Vice Unit - Handles vice, narcotics related criminal activity and drug activity from the street level dealer to large scale smuggling cases.
- Financial Crimes Unit - Investigate crimes including embezzlement, bank fraud, scams, credit card fraud, computer fraud, financial exploitation of the elderly/disabled and other white collar crimes.
- Robbery Task Force organized in March 1981, the RTF consists of two LCSO Detectives and two Tallahassee Police Department investigators involved in violent robberies.
- Auto Theft Task Force - Made up of one detective from the LCSO and one Tallahassee Police Department detective working jointly in the investigation of auto thefts including chop shop operations, title frauds, VIN switches and other investigations related to vehicle thefts.
- Criminal Intelligence Unit - CIU is a support unit within the Criminal Investigations Unit, is used as a support function for SWAT. It also collects, evaluates and disseminates strategic intelligence and assists members of the Department with criminal investigations by providing information and access to resources not normally available through the conventional investigative process. The Unit Detective maintains memberships in several intelligence organizations to include: Regional Organized Crime Information Center (ROCIC), Florida Intelligence Unit (FIU), South Georgia Intelligence Network (SGIN), Florida Gang Investigators Association (FGIA). The CIU also tracks sexual predators and offenders as required by Florida's Public Safety Information Act.
- Crime Scene Unit - Composed of one sergeant, five investigators, two evidence custodians, one fingerprint technician, a secretary and a part-time file clerk. This unit processes crime scenes, operating a latent fingerprint laboratory, a full service photo laboratory (color, black and white), serve as the evidence custodians for the department, prepare and submit current arrest fingerprint cards for adults and juveniles and conduct investigations.
- Victim Advocate Unit - Established in 1995, VAU provides a caring and compassionate direct victim service to help assist in their participation in the criminal justice system and to advocate their rights as specified by the Florida Law.
Leon County Jail
The Leon County Jail was built in 1993 and houses over 1000 inmates with an operational staff of just over 300. The Leon County Jail holds pre-trial, pre-sentenced, county and state sentenced males and females and juvenile offenders who have been adjudicated as adults.
Warrants and civil unit
Warrants and summons are served by this unit meeting the needs generated by the court system. It also serves subpoenas, domestic violence injunctions, oversees evictions, and tracking down and arresting subjects wanted on outstanding warrants.
Community services
- Crime Prevention - Deputies of the Crime Prevention Unit are required to achieve the designation of "Florida Crime Prevention Practitioner" by completing core courses offered through the Florida Attorney General's Crime Prevention Training Institute (FCPTI). Deputies are active members of the Florida Crime Prevention Association (FCPA), serve on various planning boards and local business associations.
See also
References
External links
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