Organizational Model of Ft. Bend County Sheriff\'s

Organizational Model of Ft. Bend County Sheriff's Office

The Sheriff's Office in Fort Bend County, Texas, is operated under the same model as many Sheriff's departments throughout the country, and, particularly, like many sheriff's offices in the state of Texas. The position of Sheriff is an elected position, so that the Sheriff is elected by the public and serves for a specific-term. The current elected official is Milton Wright. However, the elected sheriff does not play the day-to-day role that he might in another county. This is largely due to the immense size of Fort Bend County, which is not only already one of the largest counties in the nation, but is also growing rapidly. In 2010, the county's population was 585,375, about half of them white, 21.5% black, 17% Asian, and 23.7% Hispanic, 23.3% foreign-born, with a median income of $80,548 but with 7.5% below the poverty level poverty (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). Given the large size and tremendous diversity of the county, it is easy to see why the sheriff's position is largely that of a politician.

The chief deputy is the second in command at the sheriff's office. The chief deputy reports only to the sheriff and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the sheriff's office and the supervisions of all personnel. Under the chief deputy, one finds the traditional structure of a police department, including commander, captain, lieutenant, sergeant supervisor / sergeant investigator, deputy investigator, deputy, and detention officers or jailers. The sheriff's department is divided into several different divisions: enforcement bureau, criminal investigations, detention, support services/finance, gangs, Gus George Academy, narcotics, patrol, public information office, reserve deputy, and ID/records (See generally Fort Bend County 2012).

"The Enforcement Bureau Commander is subordinate to the Chief Deputy and Sheriff only. His duties include coordination and supervision of all criminal law enforcement within the unincorporated areas of Fort Bend County" (Fort Bend County 2012). Therefore, he has authority over any officer in any other unit. The criminal investigations unit is led by a captain, who has charge of crimes against property, crimes against persons, special crimes, organized crime, fugitive apprehension, and crime victim liason, and commands the majority of the office's resources (Fort Bend County 2012). The detention unit is led by a commander who is a major, and it has rehabilitation programs as well as detention capabilities. The support services/finance unit is in charge of communications and other support services and plays an underlying role in the office. The gangs section is headed by a sergeant, and usually works with other divisions and becomes involved when a gang member is identified as a suspect. The Gus George Academy unit is in charge of deputy education, both continuing education and initial training, and interacts with all officers. The narcotics unit is part of a county-wide task force that includes: the sheriff's office, the Richmond Police Department, the Rosenberg Police Department, the Stafford Police Department, the Sugar Land Police Department, the Missouri City Police Department, The Drug Enforcement Administration, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Agency. The patrol unit is in charge of traffic enforcement and the initial reporting of crimes. It has six motorcycle officers, three mounted police officers, and impact team officers that can flood an area with officers in response to particular criminal threats. The public information office is the source of public information for the sheriff's office. The ID/records division is in charge of handling records for the sheriff's department. Finally, it can be very difficult to accurately detail the resources that the sheriff's office commits to each division because of the reserve division. It is headed by a chief deputy, like the regular for-pay deputies. "The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Reserve Division was formed on September 18, 1967. It is a professional, all volunteer organization that supports and supplements the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, while providing service to the local community. The Reserve Division is an organization made up of over 30 well trained volunteer deputies. These men and women come from a wide range of civilian and military backgrounds, from such diverse fields as insurance, federal agencies, retail salesmen, firefighters and everything in between. Duties performed by Reserve deputies save the taxpayers of Fort Bend County hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Many Reserve deputies have gone on to become full time deputies with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office or other nearby law enforcement agencies" (Fort Bend County 2012).: