Police and Sheriff

[bastia]

What are the differences betwenn Police Dept. and Sheriff Office?

Many thanks

Fabio Bastianoni Italy

[grussem]

There are some other threads on this topic, all you have to do is go back a few pages :D

[deputy x 2]

It's called "Difference between Police Dept and Sheriff Dept" under General Law Enforcement topics

[keith758]

Sheriff's officers are generally better looking!

[Bigg Dogg]

Sheriff's officers are generally better looking!


I agree with his statement.And much more intellegent.We have to be able to spell Sheriff instead of just COP.

[SeVere]

I agree with his statement.And much more intellegent.We have to be able to spell Sheriff instead of just COP.

Ya, but a lot of you have trouble spelling Bailiff or Jail Guard! :p ;)

[SlowDownThere]

What are the differences betwenn Police Dept. and Sheriff Office?

Many thanks

Fabio Bastianoni Italy

Fabio: I'll answer your question.

The Sheriff is an elected official at the County level. He generally has a law enforcement agency to run (usually) and the cops that work for him are called Deputy Sheriffs.

At the municipal level (and some States), the Law Enforcement agency is generally called Police.

It's really only a difference of who pays you, the city or the county.

[mavriktu]

Redneck is correct ------But Keith is much more poetic..... ;) ;) ;)

[SlowDownThere]

What are the differences betwenn Police Dept. and Sheriff Office?

Many thanks

Fabio Bastianoni Italy


Anche, dove in Italia abita? Mi familia era d'Lazio.

[AtlCop]

Or.... You can be in Georgia where there is such a thing as County Police that work for a Chief and Deputy Sheriffs that work for a Sheriff.

You are paid by the same entity but one, the Police, answer to an appointed official and the Deputies answer to an elected official.

[kywildcats]

Or.... You can be in Georgia where there is such a thing as County Police that work for a Chief and Deputy Sheriffs that work for a Sheriff.

You are paid by the same entity but one, the Police, answer to an appointed official and the Deputies answer to an elected official.

I applied for the Gwinnett Co. Police Department and found it strange that a county would have a police department instead of a sheriff's office. Can you give some more detail on GA's system? Thanks.

[KenW.]

Simply put: Deputy Sheriffs wear tan & green, while city Police wear blue.

Really, the biggest differences are that we deputies serve and enforce court orders like property siezures, evictions, civil and criminal process, maintain the security of district courts, operate the jail, patrol un-incorporated areas, patrol contract cities, host auctions, deal with serving protective orders, and generally get paid less and have more responibilities.

Police on the other hand, write jaywalking tickets to pad their city's budget. :D

[SlowDownThere]

Some counties in NYS have County PD's too. They also have sheriff's departments. The SO's run the jail and do civil process. The head of the CO. PD is a Chief, not a Sheriff. (That is, he is not elected).

[AtlCop]

I applied for the Gwinnett Co. Police Department and found it strange that a county would have a police department instead of a sheriff's office. Can you give some more detail on GA's system? Thanks.

In Georgia, the Sheriff is a Constitutional Office and as such is considered the most powerful law enforcement officer. Every county in Georgia has a Sheriff's Department. In most of them, the department is the only form of county law enforcement and they do everything.

However, several larger counties have decided to start a police department. In those counties, the Sheriff's Department has been stripped of all of its responsibilities of traditional police work. They run the jail, court security, warrant division, serve civil papers, and have a domestic/family violence unit. They are still fully sworn law enforcement officers and they have statewide jurisdiction since their office is constitutional.

[chance3290]

I agree with his statement.And much more intellegent.We have to be able to spell Sheriff instead of just COP.

Of course you can, its written on your uniforms. :p Side note: I teach Judgment Shooting and tell student (SO & PO) that when they ID themselves in a hurry, the easiest thing to do is say: "STOP POLICE!" Simple and easily understood, even in spanish. One deputy said "I won't say that. I'm a Sheriff's Deputy." I asked him how to say stop police in spanish. He shrugged and said " Halt-O, Policia." I then asked, "How do you say Stop, Sheriff's Office, in spanish. He thought for a while and then said "Halt-O Policia."

[Centurion44]

To add to AtlCop's post...

Traditionally, Sheriff's are the law enforcement arm of the court- which is why they do court security, jail, serve warrants, etc. Police are a law enforcement arm of a council, mayor, or board of commisioners.

[mattph4716]

I was thinking about becoming a sheriff but I scored to high on the written test and they made me go to the Police Department.

On a serious note, where I live the S.D is responsible for civil things and Circuit CT security. Baliffs are responsible for District Ct security and the are CO's responsible for the jail. The Police Department handles the traditional police stuff.

[keith758]

In Wisconsin, the County Sheriff is THE Big Dog. The Sheriff's Department has arrest authority throughout the entire county rather than a specific municipality. They are responsible for running the County Jail, court services, court security, traffic, criminal investigations, and any and all aspects of police work. They patrol a larger area than city police, and work alone, many times with their back-up 10 or 15 minutes away.

[SlowDownThere]

Redneck is correct ------But Keith is much more poetic..... ;) ;) ;)

A redneck that speaks Italien. Some things just don't make sense.

[MCSD241]

In 11 mo there won't be any difference in my city (Indianapolis). They are merging the police and Sheriffs dept into one Metro PD :( Then I'll be a Deputy no more.

[ecpd170]

I agree with his statement.And much more intellegent.We have to be able to spell Sheriff instead of just COP.
That mean i am smurt then being tho i started in a sherifffff dept but it was to tuff to spull so i went to be a cop instead lol

[sergeantbell]

Did you know that "sheriff" actually derived from the middle ages Shire Reeve. This person was paid to catch poachers and collect taxes from the peasants. The job gradually grew into a role as a peace keeper.

Modern day Sheriff's are more politician than peace keeper. Their deputies are law enforcement driven, but the Sheriff just wants to be re-elected.

Police Chief's however only have to please one person....the Mayor.

[hounddog]

Police Chief's however only have to please one person....the Mayor.

Or Township Supervisor
Or County Board (depending on what state)
Or The Governor (ie State Police)
:D

[KenW.]

And, the chief serves at the please of those folks, and can be "let go" for just about any cause. Especially with a change in the city's leadership.

[miked6]

Genreally to be a police officer one would have to have aquired an education level competent of speaking in complete sentences, while I don't believe that sheriff's department hold such high standards. I also believe that it is prereq. that all sheriffs depties in the south must weigh 300+ lbs. and use some form of smokeless tobacco :p

I am just kidding. Not to much difference between the road officers/deputies at a full service sheriff's office. In my book if you wear a badge were all on the same team. Sheriff's are elected, chiefs appointed. Sheriff's offices run the jail, serve warrants, and provide courthouse security. Many sheriff's offices perform all the functions of standard police department in addition to sheriff's office duties. These are referred to as a full service sheriff's office. Generally there is more job security in a police department but also a much more stringent array of policies and procedures (mostly just cya).

Hope that helps a little.

[keith758]

[QUOTE=miked6]Genreally to be a police officer one would have to have aquired an education level competent of speaking in complete sentences, while I don't believe that sheriff's department hold such high standards. I also believe that it is prereq. that all sheriffs depties in the south must weigh 300+ lbs. and use some form of smokeless tobacco :p

That's strange: Wisconsin is just the opposite! And, once again, I'm forced to point out, most Deputies are better looking than city cops! :D

[Caoimh]

Genreally to be a police officer one would have to have aquired an education level competent of speaking in complete sentences, while I don't believe that sheriff's department hold such high standards.

... OK... I can see where this is going.... but I won

[HolyRoller]

Th difrerns between PO-lice and Shurfs are:

Depitys are much WAY better edumicated, & look cool, and git all the gurls.

Yes, elected sheriffs have to be politicians, but the politicking is a lot easier if the law enforcement is going well. In this county, there were 2 homicides (one solved with AMW's help) in 2004 and ZERO in 2005. The county next door had 28 homicides last year. I think our sheriff is not going anywhere, no matter how many yard signs the challenger has already put up all over the place.

[cstelz]

In my county, we are the only form of LE for most of the area (many unincorporated cities). We try to stay out of the cities that have PD's, but we all back each other when the stuff hits the fan.

In addition to full-service LE, we are also Coroners, so almost any 11-44 (dead body) that occurs, we handle.

The County Jail is staffed by full-time CO's .

[AmericanMan]

It is also true that several sheriff's offices (depending on state) don't even have men and women that are "police certified" to enforce laws and rules such as the vehicle and traffic laws. Thus meaning a lot of these agencies don't have a road patrol. This is especially common in the north-east. It is also true that in some counties the sheriff doesn't even run the jail. In NYC the sheriff is appointed.

[Ozzie]

The difference between Police and Sheriff is that most Sheriff departments are located outside the city. So anything inside the city limits ala: shootings, robbery's, rapes that are inside the city are handled by the Police. Anything that is considered outside the city limits is handled by the Sheriff's department.

[cbstrick]

Fundamentally, the two positions are the same, here at least. The answer truly depends on jurisdiction and location. Different States' Constitutions are written to provide Sheriff's Offices (or Departments) with varying powers. Here, in Florida, with few exceptions, the Sheriff's Office is the ranking agency, with more responsibility. This only means that our Sheriff is a Constitutional Officer and is elected directly while the Police Chief answers to a City Manager and ultimately to the City Commission. We also have the Courts, Jail, Patrol etc... We both have SWAT, Hostage, Bomb, and the S.O. has Aviation and a Dive Team. The main difference you will find here is the differing philosophies between the agencies and the bulk of the Deputies/Officers. Of course, there is a myriad of individual philosophies within each agency. Overall, though, the Deputies tend to work calls with little to no backup and tend to spend more time trying to resolve calls in a favorable way to all. We also, for this administration at least, don't want or need a union. (some other S.O.'s do have and need one.) Our Police Department here has the luxury of having backup in squad sized units. The agencies recruit and hire different types of people also. The P.D. hires kids right out of college, predominately, and even while they are still in the academy. We hire an older group with more life experience and look for a more mature and community oriented person. Prior experience, either at the Jail, or another agency is a big plus. There are a lot of Police, or PO-leece as we say in the South that I have a tremendous amount of respect for. I tend to cheer for my own team though.

On looks, I believe the Police have that wrapped up, we Deputies are not easy on the eyes. We are bigger, meaner and badder. But, they are definitely the pretty boys of the group, at least around here.