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Lake County Sheriff's Department (Indiana)

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Formed
  
1837

Population
  
496,005 (2010)

Employees
  
494

Lake County Sheriff's Department (Indiana)

Legal personality
  
Governmental: Government agency

Operations jurisdiction*
  
County of Lake County in the state of Indiana, United States

Size
  
Total 627 sq mi (1,623 km²)- Land 499 sq mi (1,292 km²)- Water 128 sq mi (330 km²)

The Lake County Sheriff's Department is the county law enforcement agency for Lake County, Indiana. The first sheriff was elected in 1837, when Lake County was organized.

Contents

Current Sheriff

John A. Buncich, sworn into office on January 1, 2015, is the 49th sheriff of Lake County and is in his fourth term. He had previously held the office for two terms from 1995–2002.

Organization

The Lake County Sheriff's Department employs 168 sworn police officers, 170 sworn corrections officers and 156 civilians under the sheriff's direction.

His command staff includes Chief of Police Timothy Downs and four commanders, each responsible for a division, who are assisted by deputy commanders. The Corrections Division is led by a chief warden, an assistant warden and three deputy wardens.

  • Staff Services Division consists of the Bureau of Information, Bookkeeping, Human Resources, Property/Evidence Management, Telecommunications, Training and Vehicle Maintenance Operations.
  • Civil Division is charged with serving summons, subpoenas, evictions and writs of the Lake County Superior and Circuit courts as well as from other jurisdictions.
  • Corrections Division operates the Lake County Jail and administers the Work Release Program designed as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. The modern Lake County Jail opened in 1975 in a five-floor facility with 286 beds. In 1991, capacity was increased to 460 beds and additions in 2000 provided for a total of 1,085 beds. A Special Operations Response Team (SORT) is utilized in controlling inmate disturbances and restoring order in emergency situations.
  • Criminal Investigations Division comprises the General Assignment, Auto Theft and Warrant units as well as the Crime Laboratory and officers assigned to multi-jurisdictional task forces.
  • Uniform Division primarily provides police service to the unincorporated areas of the county and in the town of Winfield which does not have an established police department. This division also maintains an organized Bicycle Unit as well as a Traffic Unit which utilizes both patrol vehicles and motorcycles for enforcement and has trained accident reconstructionists. The Court Security Unit provides security at all county courts located at the Lake County Government Center and at facilities in East Chicago, Gary and Hammond.

    • The department also has a number of Special Operations Units with specifically trained personnel assigned for Aquatics Underwater Recovery and Rescue, Aviation, Bomb Squad, Chaplains, K-9, Marine, Tactical (SWAT) and a mobile communications Command Center.

    Aircraft

    The Lake County Sheriff's Department has three helicopters used for law enforcement in the county and for assistance to local police agencies. They are maintained by the Aviation Unit and are operated from the Griffith-Merrillville Airport in Griffith, Indiana.

    According to FAA records, the helicopters currently registered to the agency include a Bell OH-58A N512LC, a Bell OH-58A N513LC and a Eurocopter EC120B N516RD.

    Fallen officers

    In the history of the Lake County Sheriff's Department, six officers have been killed in the line of duty.

    References

    Lake County Sheriff's Department (Indiana) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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