Abbreviation LCSO Population 325,875 (2015) | Annual budget $61,799,661 (2008) | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Size 1,156 sq mi (2,990 km). | ||
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is largest law enforcement agency in Lake County, Florida, United States. Per the State of Florida Constitution, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county. The current Sheriff is Peyton C. Grinnell who was elected November, 2016 in the Lake County general election. He succeeds Sheriff Gary Borders, who was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush following the death of Sheriff Chris Daniels in 2006, and was subsequently elected in 2008, and 2012. The agency has been awarded with a certificate of accreditation from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation, consequently, both the Law Enforcement and Corrections divisions of the Lake County Sheriff's Office are now accredited.
Contents
Divisions
Law Enforcement Operations
Criminal Justice Operations
Administrative Services
Specialty units
Like many law enforcement agencies, the Lake County Sheriff's Office also has deputies with specialized training. These deputies perform their normal full-time jobs (road patrol, detectives, detention deputy, etc.) and perform one the specialty units as the needs call for. Some of the specialty units are:
Previous Sheriff's (1887-2006)
Misconduct
In 1949, the Groveland Case resulted four black men being charged with rape of a white woman. Sheriff Sheriff Willis V. McCall shot two of the men while they were in custody. Another was killed in questionable circumstances. The last man was sentenced to death but commuted to life by the Florida governor.
In February 2004, Sheriff George E. Knupp Jr., was removed from office by then Governor Jeb Bush, after an indictment on a perjury charge. Two interim Sheriff's served the remainder of his term appointed by Bush, until the elections of 2004 when Sheriff's Maj. Chris Daniels was elected Sheriff in a hotly contested race.
In January 2011, Lieutenant C.J. Thompson bought a laptop computer with a department credit card. He then repaid the amount due from investigative funds. He resigned when he was caught.
In July 2012, unnamed deputies were seeking a man suspected of murder. They went to the wrong apartment door at night and were met by an armed occupant who came out armed and was shot and killed. Drugs and Paraphernalia were found in the apartment. The deputies said they had not announced themselves as police as required by procedures.
In January 2014, Deputy Matthew Donnelly was arrested for the sexual battery of a woman after placing her boyfriend in handcuffs in the back of his police car. A police spokesman said DNA evidence pointed to Donnelly. The officer was fired shortly after his arrest., Donnelly was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.