Escambia County Sheriff's Office (Florida) Explained

Agencyname:Escambia County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation:ECSO
Patch:FL - Escambia County Sheriff.png
Patchcaption:Patch of the Escambia County Sheriff
Flag:Seal of Escambia County, Florida.png
Flagcaption:Seal of Escambia County, Florida
Motto:To Serve and Protect
Formedyear:1845
Employees:650
Budget:US$$60.30 million
Country:United States
Countryabbr:USA
Divtype:State
Divname:Florida
Subdivtype:County (United States)
Subdivname:Escambia
Map:File:Escambia County Florida Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Pensacola Highlighted 1255925.svg
Sizearea:875sqmi
Sizepopulation:500,000
Legaljuris:Escambia County, Florida
Governingbody:County Commission
Police:Yes
Local:Yes
Headquarters:1700 West Leonard Street, Pensacola, Florida 32501
Sworntype:Deputy Sheriffs
Sworn:410
Unsworntype:Civilian
Chief1name:Chip W. Simmons (R)
Chief1position:Sheriff
Chief2name:Tommi Lyter (R)
Chief2position:Chief Deputy
Parentagency:Escambia County Board of County Commissioners (Florida)
Stationtype:Precincts
Stations:6
Lockuptype:Jail
Lockups:1
Boat1type:Police Boat
Boats1:3
Aircraft1type:Helicopter
Aircraft1:0
Aircraft2type:Plane
Aircraft2:0
Website:Official Site

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) or Escambia Sheriff's Office (ESO) is the primary law enforcement agency of unincorporated Escambia County and the town of Century.[1] ECSO is headed by a sheriff, who serves a four-year term and is elected in a partisan election.[2] The current sheriff is Chip W. Simmons.

Department Structure

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is headed by a sheriff. Currently, the Sheriff is Chip W. Simmons who replaced former Sheriff David Morgan in 2021. Simmons was previously Chief of Police for the City of Pensacola, Florida, in Escambia County, Florida.

Chief Deputy

The rank of chief deputy is the second-highest rank in the Office, reporting directly to the Sheriff. Each chief deputy serves as a member of the senior command staff and assists the sheriff in managing civilian and commissioned personnel.[3]

Precincts

Rank structure

Before October 2013, the sheriff had control over the Escambia County Jail, located at 2935 North L Street, but after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation reported that the jail did not provide required minimum services and was chronically understaffed,[4] the jail was moved under the direct supervision of the County Commissioners.[5] In April 2014 a natural gas explosion rocked the jail, causing some to reconsider the wisdom of direct Commission administration.[6]

History

The office of sheriff was established with the transfer from Spain in 1821. The Spanish title Alguazil was initially used for the office. Henri Peire, a former privateer and colonel in the United States Army, was named the first sheriff by General Andrew Jackson.[7] [8]

On 23 August 1877, the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin was arrested by Sheriff William H. Hutchinson working with Texas Rangers Lt. John B. Armstrong and Jack R. Duncan, accompanied by nine deputies.[9]

In the 21st century relations between the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and federal law enforcement were occasionally strained. In 2005 under Sheriff McNesby, disagreements over the release of information in drug cases led to a monthlong stand-off between the sheriff's office and the U.S. Attorney's office, which was only settled by the intervention of three federal judges.[10] [11] [12] In September 2012, the Civil Rights Division completed its report on excessive use of force by the Escambia Sheriff's Office,[13] that together with the Department of Justice's 2013 report on the inadequate status of the Escambia jail further exacerbated relations. In February 2015 Sheriff Morgan severed ties with both the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force headed by the FBI, and the U.S. Marshal's Regional Fugitive Task Force, pulling the deputies assigned to those duties. Again the issue was one of information dissemination.[14] In December 2015 agreement was reached with the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee to rejoin both task forces.[15]

Controversy arose in 2013 when ECSO deputies shot a 60-year-old unarmed man in his driveway.[16] [17]

Escambia County Sheriff's office investigation into the June 8, 2017 death of Deanna Stevison has also been called out as controversial, due to the lack of follow-up on evidence contradicting the claims made by the three suspects in their police interviews, and the former employment of one of the suspects by Escambia County Sheriff's office and her relationship with the lead investigator of this case. Deanna Stevison's case is currently being profiled in the podcast Stand Our Ground.[18]

The canines of the sheriff's office received national honors at the U.S. Police Canine Association National Police Dog Trials in October 2014, where they had the top team scores.[19] [20]

Before leaving office in early 2021, Sheriff David Morgan used $75,000 in office funds to commission a life-sized metal statue of himself. He said his intent was use the figure of himself saluting as an addition to the office's memorial to fallen officers. The new Sheriff Chip Simmons declined to install the statue in front of the office's main entrance.[21]

List of sheriffs

Sixteen policemen from this agency have died in the line of duty.[24]

Television

The sheriff's office produces a television show, every other Tuesday, entitled Your Escambia County Sheriff’s Report. It is broadcast on Blab TV (Cox Channel 1006).[25]

In 2015 the Escambia sheriff's office was twice featured on the reality program Cops.[26] [27]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. The City of Pensacola maintains its own police force.
  2. Web site: 2016/2018 Announced Local Candidates . Escambia County . https://web.archive.org/web/20151219094510/http://escambiavotes.net/CandPDF/CandList.pdf . 19 December 2015 . live .
  3. Web site: Chief Deputy. escambiaso.com.
  4. Problems at the jail included de facto racial segregation and inadequate health-care access. Web site: Nickinson, Shannon . 18 February 2015 . The man with the plan . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151130124450/http://studeri.org/2015/02/man-plan/ . 30 November 2015 . live.
  5. News: Escambia Commission Taking Over The County Jail From The Sheriff . 21 June 2013 . North Escambia (News) . https://web.archive.org/web/20130627071057/http://www.northescambia.com/2013/06/escambia-commission-taking-over-the-county-jail-from-the-sheriff . 27 June 2013 . live.
  6. Web site: Barrows, Mollye . 20 November 2014 . Jail explosion: No criminal charges, changes needed . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228211436/http://studeri.org/2014/11/jail-explosion-insufficient-evidence-establish-criminal-charges/ . 28 December 2015 . live.
  7. Book: Appleyard, John . 2007 . The Peacekeepers: the Story of Escambia County, Florida's 43 Sheriffs . Pensacola, Florida . publisher not listed . 712733262.
  8. Other records show a man named William Loftin, a resident of the Oyster Bay/St. Andrews area (modern day Panama City) as being appointed sheriff of "Florida's Western District," another designation for the territory west of the Suwannee River. However, it was William M. Loftin who, in 1823, became sheriff of Jackson County to the east of Escambia County, but also west of the Suwannee. Book: Houpt, Ann Pratt . 2003 . Parker . Charleston, South Carolina . Arcadia Publishing. 1 . 978-0-7385-1529-8.
  9. Web site: Nickinson, Shannon . 24 October 2014 . John Wesley Hardin captured in Pensacola — again . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228230808/http://studeri.org/2014/10/john-wesley-hardin-captured-pensacola/ . 28 December 2015 . live.
  10. News: Associated Press . 6 August 2005 . Prosecutor won't take sheriff's cases after row over info release . First Amendment Center . https://web.archive.org/web/20140329192825/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/prosecutor-wont-take-sheriffs-cases-after-row-over-info-release . 29 March 2014 . live .
  11. News: US Attorney, Sheriff's Office Make Peace . 17 August 2005 . The Daytona Beach News-Journal .
  12. News: Outzen, Rick . 22 January 2009 . The Rise And Fall Of The McNesby Empire . IN Weekly . 11 . 3 . cover story . https://web.archive.org/web/20111018002233/http://inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=9392 . 18 October 2011 . live.
  13. Web site: Investigation of the Escambia County Sheriffs Office: Technical Assistance Letter . 9 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150920105407/http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2012/09/05/escambia_taletter_9-4-12.pdf . 20 September 2015 . live.
  14. Web site: Barrows, Mollye . Escambia Sheriff withdraws from federal task forces . 13 February 2015 . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20150813153338/http://studeri.org/2015/02/escambia-sheriff-withdraws-federal-task-forces/ . 13 August 2015 . live.
  15. News: Sheriff's Office Rejoins Partnerships With US Marshals, FBI . 17 December 2015 . North Escambia (News) . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228204456/http://www.northescambia.com/2015/12/sheriffs-office-rejoins-partnerships-with-us-marshals-fbi . 28 December 2015 . live.
  16. News: Lithwick, Dahlia . August 2013 . David Morgan Is Wrong, Terribly Wrong . Slate . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402011620/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/08/escambia_county_sheriff_david_morgan_his_bizarre_defense_of_the_shooting.html . 2 April 2015 . live .
  17. Web site: Leber, Rebecca . 1 August 2013 . Florida Sheriff: Officers Who Shot Unarmed Black Man In His Driveway Followed 'Standard Protocols' . ThinkProgress . https://web.archive.org/web/20130804045110/http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/01/2396801/escambia-sheriff-unarmed-shooting . 4 August 2013 . live.
  18. Web site: https://www.standourgroundpod.com/ . Stand Our Ground Podcast . 2024-02-16.
  19. News: Escambia's K9 units one of the best in NWFL . 28 October 2014 . Wear-TV (ABC 3) . Pensacola . https://web.archive.org/web/20141104195243/http://www.weartv.com/news/features/escambia-news/stories/escambias-k9-units-one-best-nwfl-196.shtml . 4 November 2014 . live.
  20. Web site: Escambia Sheriff's K-9 tops at national trials . 28 October 2014 . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228214319/http://studeri.org/2014/10/escambia-sheriffs-k-9-tops-national-trials/ . 28 December 2015 . live.
  21. News: Warren-Hicks . Colon . 'Narcissistic waste': Former Sheriff Morgan spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on statue of himself . 19 August 2021 . Pensacola News-Journal . 18 August 2021.
  22. In November 2016, Sheriff David Morgan was re-elected to the 2017-2020 four-year term with 73% of the votes. News: Escambia County Election Results . 9 November 2016 . North Escambia (News).
  23. In November 2020, Chip Simmons was elected to the 2021-2024 four-year term with 63% of the votes. News: Escambia County Election Results . 9 November 2020 . WEAR (News).
  24. Web site: Escambia County . Officer Down Memorial Page . 19 August 2021.
  25. Web site: Sheriff Morgan . Escambia County Sheriff's Office . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304141744/http://www.escambiaso.com/index.php/about/sheriff-morgan/ . 4 March 2016 . live .
  26. Web site: Nickinson, Shannon . 25 February 2015 . 'Cops' gives Escambia Sheriff's Office its close up. Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228213855/http://studeri.org/2015/02/cops-gives-escambia-sheriffs-office-its-close-up/ . 28 December 2015 . live.
  27. Web site: Nickinson, Shannon . 22 April 2015 . Escambia Sheriff's Office back on "Cops" . Studer Community Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20151228213430/http://studeri.org/2015/04/escambia-sheriffs-office-back-on-cops/ . 28 December 2015 . live.

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