San Francisco Sheriff's Office: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 16:30, 16 March 2008
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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 current Sheriff is Michael Hennessey. First elected in 1979, he is the longest-serving of all sitting California sheriffs.[1]
The SFSD should not be confused with the San Francisco Police Department, which is another law enforcement agency within the consolidated city and county of San Francisco.
Divisions
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, 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.
County Jails
San Francisco County operates seven jails, with approximately 55,000 people booked annually. Two of these jails are located in the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street. One of the jails is located in ward 7D/7L in San Francisco General Hospital. Two jails are located at the San Bruno Complex, located ten miles south of San Francisco.
The newest San Francisco jail complex is not located in San Francisco at all. It is located in an unincorporated part of San Mateo County between Pacifica and San Bruno. [2] The new jail opened in 2006 and will be named County Jail #5, when all San Francisco's jails will be renumbered. This jail replaced old County Jail #3, which at the time of closing was the oldest operating county jail in California. County Jail #3 stands vacant, and will be demolished.
Prior to the new facility opening, the most modern San Francisco Jail was the one located near the Hall of Justice on Seventh Street. Opened in 1994, the complex is actually two jails. This main complex jail is a "direct supervision facility [that] has become a national model for program-oriented prisoner rehabilitation." The second, which acts as the main intake and release facility for the city, was praised by Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Allan Temko as "a stunning victory for architectural freedom over bureaucratic stupidity."[3]
Intake & Release
- County Jail #9 (425 7th Street, near Hall of Justice, San Francisco)
Classification
- County Jail #8 (Hall of Justice, 6th Floor, San Francisco)
Housing
- County Jail #1 (Hall of Justice, 6th Floor, San Francisco)
- County Jail #2 (Hall of Justice, 7th Floor, San Francisco)
- County Jail #3 (San Bruno) (Vacant and due for destruction)
- County Jail #5 (San Bruno) (New state of the art facility opened in 2006)
- County Jail #7 (San Bruno)
- Ward 7D/7L (San Francisco General Hospital)
- County Jail #8 (425 7th Street, San Francisco)
Field Services
Institutional Patrol/Building Security
The 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 finished in 2004 that absorbed the personnel and 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. The Department is also the primary provider of security to City Hall, and the Emergency Communications Dispatch Center.
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.
K-9 Unit
The Department has two canine units to perform a variety of search duties for the areas under the Sheriff's control.
Civil Unit
The Department's Civil Unit carries out judgements 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 Department maintains a well trained Emergency Services Unit (ESU). An ESU assignment is a concurrent assignment for sworn personnel who must qualify for with physical agility and firearms tests and an oral interview process. There are currently over 100 members of the ESU. The ESU performs a wide range of functions, and is the Department's main response unit for large special events such as protests or 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 rigourous 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.
See also
- List of law enforcement agencies in California
- Jails of San Francisco, California
- Sheriffs in the United States
- San Francisco Police Department
References
- ^ "Hennessey announces candidacy for Sheriff: seeks unprecedented eighth term". Fog City Journal. Retrieved October 7.
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- ^ "San Francisco Sheriff's Department : Jail". San Francisco Sheriff's Department. Retrieved March 23.
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