New York City Sheriff's Office

History

The New York City Sheriff's Office originated in 1626 as the New York County Sheriff's Office. Originally each of the city's five county-boroughs had their own sheriff, each of which held the widest law enforcement jurisdiction in their respective county-borough. Like most sheriffs in the United States, these office holders were elected to their positions. Once the city was consolidated in 1898, the New York City Police Department took over responsibility for criminal investigations throughout the entire city, while the sheriffs continued to focus on civil law enforcement and administering the county prison systems. Sheriffs were compensated by charging fees for enforcing civil orders in addition to keeping a monetary percentage (known as poundage) of what their office would seize. By 1915, plans were made by the Commissioner of Accounts to alter the way sheriffs were compensated to include a determined salary instead of having the office holder personally retain fees and poundage. Although fees and poundage would still be charged by sheriffs, the monies would be retained for their respective county's use only. In 1938, the first female deputy sheriff was appointed.

On January 1, 1942, each of the city's five county sheriff's offices were merged to become the Office of the Sheriff of the City of New York. The city's five county sheriffs were abolished and replaced with borough "chief deputies" (later undersheriffs) reporting to the now mayorally-appointed city-wide sheriff. A contemporary report of the changes emphasized professionalization of the office, which had become notorious for employing political patronage beneficiaries. The new top five commanders were "all college graduates" and "lawyers like their chief, who promises to keep out politics". At the same time, the sheriff's former responsibility for running prison systems was transferred to the newly established New York City Department of Correction.

In 2012, the New York City Sheriff's Office changed its emblems, uniforms and logos to more closely resemble those of the New York Police Department, and to avoid confusion with fire department or emergency services. Finance Department spokesman Owen Stone said "We had red and white. We changed it to blue and yellow, because it's more in line with other law enforcement."

Chain of command

In order to be appointed as deputies, candidates must first pass a civil service entrance examination and meet strong educational/experiential requirements. Candidates must also pass medical and psychological examinations, physical ability tests, and a full background investigation. In addition to deputy sheriffs, the Sheriff's Office employs sworn criminal investigators and an assortment of civilian support personnel.

As of June 2014, Joseph Fucito was appointed the 121st Sheriff of the City of New York. Sheriff Fucito has over 25 years of experience in the New York City Sheriff's Office, and came up through the ranks of deputy sheriff. He has commanded a wide variety of units and county offices, and also served as acting sheriff two separate times before his official appointment to sheriff.

Structure

The New York City Sheriff's Office is composed of three sections: Operations, Intelligence, and Support.

Operations Section

The Operations Section is composed of the five county field offices and certain units working city-wide. Within the county field offices, deputy sheriffs assigned to civil law enforcement duties are referenced as Law Enforcement Bureau (LEB) personnel. LEB deputies perform a wide array of tasks such as evictions, warrants of arrest, orders to commit, and the seizure and sale of property pursuant to judicial mandates. Businesses and individuals that owe the city money pursuant to unpaid city tax warrants, environmental control board summons, and fire and health code violation fines, are targeted for enforcement action. LEB deputies also serve a wide variety of legal process, with orders of protection considered a priority. Each county field office is complemented by civilian support staff to assist in daily administrative functions and customer service. These field offices are accessible to the public, giving citizens of the county/borough a local place to file court process in need of enforcement. Deputies of the Operations Section may be assigned to duties separate from the LEB, either within a county field office or city-wide. These duties include arrests and apprehensions on behalf of other city agencies such as the Human Resources Administration, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Administration for Children's Services. Deputies may be assigned to scofflaw enforcement or security duties at the city treasury. The Operations Section will also provide deputies for any other assignment as deemed necessary by the agency.

Intelligence Section

The Intelligence Section is composed of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the Intelligence Unit. The BCI investigates city tax crimes, real property larceny/deed fraud, synthetic narcotic enforcement (such as spice/K2 and bath salts) and other offenses against the Department of Finance. The Intelligence Unit collects, analyzes, and disseminates information from various sources to be readily available for agency use. Intelligence Section personnel include criminal investigators, deputy sheriffs, and civilian support personnel.

Support Section

The Support Section handles communications, property disposition, evidence destruction and field support services for the entire agency. Support Section personnel include deputy sheriffs and criminal investigators.

In addition to these organizational sections, the Sheriff's Office is served by a Chaplain Support Unit and a Medical Support Unit.

Power and authority

Deputy sheriffs and criminal investigators are New York State peace officers and are authorized to make warrantless arrests, issue summonses, conduct vehicle stops, carry and use firearms, batons, pepper spray, handcuffs, and use physical and deadly force. Deputy sheriffs and criminal investigators have peace officer status both on-duty and off-duty. Deputy sheriffs receive their peace officer status pursuant to the New York State Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) §2.10 subdivision 2, while criminal investigators receive their peace officer status from CPL §2.10 subdivision 5.

Deputy sheriffs are also civil law enforcement officers with authorization to enforce the New York State Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) concerning civil procedure.

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the sheriff's offices throughout the five counties of New York City, seven sworn officers have died in the line of duty.

New York City

Effective January 1, 1942, one city-wide sheriff began serving all five counties within the City of New York. The following is a list of the city-wide sheriffs since the original five county positions were merged. The position is appointed by the Mayor of New York City.

Kings County

See: Category:Sheriffs of Kings County, New York

New York County

See: Category:Sheriffs of New York County, New York

The first Sheriff of New York County was in office in 1626. Prior to 1942 the Sheriff of New York County was an elected position.

Richmond County

See Category:Sheriffs of Richmond County, New York

Bronx County

See: Category:Sheriffs of Bronx County, New York