California CD

[Flying Pig]

CA is much different.  In CA the Sheriff is responsible for the Jail, Court Security, SAR and is also required to provide patrol/LE services to the county areas not incorporated by a city municipality.  If a city decides they can no longer afford their own PD, the Sheriff is mandated to patrol the city.  Now, of course, they are also required to compensate the Sheriff for services, otherwise they risk losing their status as an incorporated city.  Some of the benefits are,  a small city of 10 officers doesnt have many resources.  However, contracting with the Sheriff for a cost less than those 10 officers, you will get enough deputies dedicated to patrol your city effectively.  You will get all of the other deputies who are patrolling the county who can respond if it goes to crap.  You also get detectives, crime scene techs, helicopters, SWAT, K9s, EOD, traffic cops, etc.   And in addition all the liability falls on the Sheriff.  Not the city.  So for small cities, it makes sense.  And even for big cities, they get the full force for nowhere near what it would cost to manage their own PDs.
The City of Fresno cant just wake up tomorrow and decide to close down its PD and have 2 deputies handle it for free.  Riverside County Sheriff in CA is like that.  Many of the large cities in Riverside County  such as Moreno Valley, Temecula, Palm Desert, etc. are full blown cities, but they chose to pay a fee to the Sheriff instead of paying for a PD.  In turn, the deputies drive around in patrol cars that have the city logo on it, and wear a patch that says "Moreno Valley Police" but the badge still says Deputy Sheriff.  When I worked for them, it was always funny to be a deputy, and hear people say they always wanted to work for Moreno Valley Police because the Sheriff's Department sucked.  Or they would say "Im applying to the Moreno Valley Police Department as soon as Im 21."
In many States the State Police handle that stuff.  In CA the CHP is responsible for the vehicle code and "assisting the motoring public".  They are 100% sworn cops, and sometimes, in very rural areas, they may have an agreement with the Sheriff to assist or handle patrol calls, ie. 911's, domestics, etc.  But you will hardly ever see that except for in rare occasions. You wont see a CHP officer handling a murder, child molest or a check forgery.
WHen I was teaching SWAT Courses I was always interested in traveling around the country and seeing how states do things differently.  Out in CA, we have a couple counties, one is San Francisco County Sheriff, that all they do is courts and jails.  The only "county" property is the buildings.


By the way, Ill take responsibility for taking this thread completely off topic!

[Judge Art]

Flying Pig is absolutely correct. Sheriff's deputies in California perform the full range of law enforcement activities pursuant to California Penal Code Section 830.1. This is very different than many other areas of the country. Probably the best known full-service California sheriff's department is the LASD, which has one of the largest departments serving the greatest number of both incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. My California LE days go even further back than Air Hog - I remember when there was a California State Police AND a California Highway Patrol! I was in the Navy at the Amphib Base in Coronado when I went through the San Diego Police Reserve Academy and became a Coronado Reserve Officer, then moved to San Diego PD and eventually became a regular before I crossed to the dark side and joined the feds. Law school followed, federal prosecutor, now a chief judge. But I always remember the days of riding patrol in Southeast San Diego, and hanging out in PB during the day working on a tan and scoping out the talent. Ah, for the days of my misspent youth!

[Chappie]

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department is on the same model that Flying Pig describes -- i.e. jail, court security, coroner, process serving, crime lab, detectives, SED, Bomb squad, aerosquadron, Search and Rescue, Horse Posse, etc. as well as patrol in the unincorporated areas.  The department has a narcotics division (with one canine trained in drug detection).  And there is a County-wide Task Force comprised of officers from several LE agencies.  There are six city police departments within the county.  Much of the marijuana growth takes place in rural areas and land bordering on or within the Las Padres National Forest --  so there is a good deal of cooperation there.

[Eclipse]

Illinois is similar to CA in this respect, at least in most of the major counties - "Cook" being the big boy on the block.  Chicago obviously
has their own PD, but some surrounding suburbs use the Sheriff for patrol.  In Cook, the major use for them is the jail(s), of course.

I'm not aware of any larger cities that use the a Sheriff instead of their own police, but there's plenty of unincorporated burbs around here
that do.

[davidsinn]

Illinois is similar to CA in this respect, at least in most of the major counties - "Cook" being the big boy on the block.  Chicago obviously
has their own PD, but some surrounding suburbs use the Sheriff for patrol.  In Cook, the major use for them is the jail(s), of course.

I'm not aware of any larger cities that use the a Sheriff instead of their own police, but there's plenty of unincorporated burbs around here
that do.

Here, Indianapolis and Marion county merged their departments into a metro department.