San Francisco Sheriff's Department

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department (SFSD) is the sheriff's department for the City and County of San Francisco. The department has 850 deputized personnel, and support staff. The primary function of the SFSD is to operate the county jail system. There is an average population of 1900 inmates in the SF County Jails, as well as many on supervised release programs. The SFSD also provides security to the civil and criminal courts, and law enforcement services to San Francisco's landmark City Hall, and the City and County's Emergency Communications & Dispatch center. After a two year transition, in 2004, the SFSD began providing law enforcement services to San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital, and several public health clinics throughout the City and County.

The SFSD deputies and the SFPD officers have all attended a POST-mandated police academy, and are duly-sworn California Peace Officers.

The Department has four divisions:

• Administration and Programs Division: Performs functions related to personnel, training, backgrounds, in-jail programs, Charter School, Community Programs and Prisoner Legal Services.

• Custody Division: Performs custody operations, hospital ward security, classification and I.D. processing.

• Field Support and Services Division: Performs civil processes, court security, central warrants, institutional patrol, investigations unit, building security, transportation, K-9, and emergency response and special events.

• Management Division: Performs centralized line functions related to the overall management of the department to include fiscal operations, information technology services, facilities maintenance, and peer support.

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department provides patrol and law enforcement services to San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital in an agreement with the Dept. of Public Health. In 2004 the San Francisco Sheriff's Department absorbed the personnel and police functions of the Institutional Police Department (IPD). The Department fields a 60 member patrol force for the two hospitals, and several public health clinics throughout the City and County. This is a full service patrol unit that answers all calls for service within the Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction The Department is also the primary provider of security to the Emergency Communications Dispatch Center.

The department provides security to the criminal and civil courts in the city and county. These deputies transport defendants to court, act as bailiffs, provide building security, and respond to emergency calls from the courts.

City Hall Security
Deputies in this unit provide security to San Francisco City Hall. City Hall houses San Francisco's governing body, including the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors, and the Office of the Sheriff. Deputies are responsible for securing all entrances to the building, and providing emergency response to any incidents.

Hall of Justice Security
San Francisco's Hall of Justice houses many of the City and County's main offices, including the Chief of Police and the District Attorney. In addition, the Hall of Justice is home to a district police station, the criminal courts, Central Warrants Bureau, the SFPD Inspectors Bureau, and two county jails. The deputies in this unit are responsible for the security of the building, the main public entrance, and responding to emergency calls in the building.

Transportation Unit
The deputies in this unit transport prisoners to and from court. They also transport prisoners between the various jails run by the department when prisoner housing is changed and they need to be transferred.

 Investigations Unit
The San Francisco Sheriff's Department has deputy sheriff's assigned to investigate violent, narcotics and property crimes at county facilities. The investigation unit provides a complete investigation on any crime committed within the county jurisdiction. The investigative unit also handles internal investigations of misconduct.

Warrant Service Unit
These deputies are specially trained to detect and arrest people with outstanding warrants who are wanted by the City and County of San Francisco and other jurisdictions. They work in plain clothes and drive in unmarked vehicles and work in conjunction with San Francisco Police Department Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Teams, San Francisco Probation Officers, California State Parole Officers and other peace officers outside their jurisdiction.

Central Warrants Bureau
In 1998, the Sheriff's Department took control of the Central Warrants Bureau (CWB) from the Police Department. This unit maintains all of San Francisco's felony and misdemeanor warrants. The deputies arrest suspects with outstanding warrants, write citations, and verify warrants for arresting agencies.

K-9 Unit
The Department has four canine units to perform a variety of search duties for the areas under the Sheriff's control. Currently SFSD has 2 narcotics detecting dogs and 2 explosive/bomb detecting dogs. The K-9 Unit has had impressive results and is a leading example of professional pro-acitve productivity.

Civil Unit
The Department's Civil Unit carries out judgments of the San Francisco Civil Courts. The Unit serves court orders, including restraining orders, property seizures, evictions, and civil bench warrants. The Unit assists elderly, handicapped and indigent civil evictees by coordinating services with dozens of community assistance agencies throughout San Francisco. Since the program was initiated in 1980, more than 20,000 evictees and landlords have been assisted.

Emergency Services Unit
The San Francisco Sheriff's Department maintains a highly trained Emergency Services Unit (ESU). An ESU assignment is a concurrent assignment for deputy sheriffs that have qualified by passing a series of higher standard tests. (physical agility, firearms tests and an interview process) There are currently over 100 members of the ESU. The ESU performs a wide range of functions and is the San Francisco Sheriff's Department's main response unit for large special events such as protests, large city sponsored events, high risk prisoner transport, large jail disturbances, or terrorist activity.

 Special Response Team
The Department also has a Special Response Team (SRT), who have been trained in Special Weapons And Tactics. These deputies are selected from the ranks of the Emergency Services Unit after rigorous physical testing as well as showing a proficiency in firearms and problem solving while under stress. The SRT includes forward observers and snipers who have additional training in their specialty. This elite group trains for significant emergencies and events occurring in areas under the Sheriff's control which are beyond the capacity of the Emergency Service Unit. Some of these duties include responding to active shooter situations, dealing with barricaded subjects, executing high risk warrants, completing high risk transports and providing dignitary security.

Source:  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia