Escambia County Sheriff's Office (Florida)

Escambia County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation ECSO

Patch of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office
Agency overview
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* County (US) of Escambia in the state of Florida, USA
Map of Escambia County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction.
Size 876 square miles (2,270 km2)
Population 294,410
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters 1700 W Leonard St Pensacola, Florida 32501
Agency executive Thelbert "David" Morgan, Sheriff
Website
Official Site
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

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 David Morgan.

Offices & facilities

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,[3] the jail was moved under the direct supervision of the County Commissioners.[4] In April 2014 a natural gas explosion rocked the jail, causing some to reconsider the wisdom of direct Commission administration.[5]

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.<ref name=Appleyard">Appleyard, John (2007). The Peacekeepers: the Story of Escambia County, Florida's 43 Sheriffs. Pensacola, Florida: publisher not listed. OCLC 712733262. </ref>[6]

On 23 August 1877, the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin was arrested by Escambia County Sheriff William H. Hutchinson working with Texas Rangers Lt. John B. Armstrong and Jack R. Duncan, accompanied by nine Escambia County sheriff deputies.[7]

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 month long 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.[8][9][10] In September 2012, the Civil Rights Division completed its report on excessive use of force by the Escambia Sheriff's Office,[11] that together with the Department of Justice's 2013 report on the inadequate status of the Escambia jail further exacerbated relations.[4] In February 2015 Sheriff Morgan severed ties with both the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force headed by the FBI, and the U.S. Marshall’s Regional Fugitive Task Force, pulling the deputies assigned to those duties. Again the issue was one of information dissemination.[12] In December 2015 agreement was reached with the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee to rejoin both task forces.[13]

Controversy arose in 2013 when ECSO deputies shot a 60-year-old unarmed man in his driveway.[14][15]

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.[16][17]

List of sheriffs

  • Henri Peire 1821
  • Charles Bradford 1821–1822
  • William Davison 1823–1826
  • Charles Mifflin 1827
  • Henry Wilson 1828
  • Adam Gordon 1829
  • James Pendleton 1829–1830
  • Florencio Commyns 1830–1837
  • Jesse Allen 1837–1840
  • Peter Woodbine 1840–1842
  • Ebenezer Dorr IV 1842–1846
  • Mortimar Bright 1846
  • Angus Nicholson 1846–1847
  • Antoine Collins 1847–1851
  • Francis de la Rua 1851–1852
  • Francis Maura 1852–1854
  • Joseph Crosby 1854–1857
  • William Jordan 1857–1859
  • Daniel Williams 1859–1865
  • James B. Roberts 1865–1868
  • George Wentworth 1868–1870
  • Henry Campbell 1870
  • E. R. Payne 1870
  • George Wells 1870–1874
  • J. N. Coombs 1874–1875
  • A. M. Green 1875–1877
  • W. H. Hutchison 1877–1885
  • Joseph Wilkins 1885–1893
  • George E. Smith 1893–1903
  • James C. Van Pelt 1903–1913
  • A. Cary Ellis 1913–1917
  • James C. Van Pelt 1917–1919
  • Hurdis S. Whitaker 1919–1921
  • A. Cary Ellis 1921–1923
  • Mose S. Penton 1923–1932
  • H. E. Gandy 1932–1941
  • Howard L. Mayes 1941–1945
  • R. L. Kendrick 1945–1957
  • Emmett Shelby 1957–1961
  • Bill Davis 1961–1970
  • Royal Untreiner 1970–1981
  • J. "Vince" Sealy 1981–1989
  • Charlie Johnson 1989–1993
  • Jim Lowman 1993–2001
  • Ron McNesby 2001–2009
  • David Morgan 2009–2016[18]

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).[19]

In 2015 the Escambia sheriff's office was twice featured on the reality program Cops.[20][21]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The City of Pensacola maintains its own police force.
  2. ↑ "2016/2018 Announced Local Candidates" (PDF). Escambia County. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Problems at the jail included defacto racial segregation and inadequate health-care access. Nickinson, Shannon (18 February 2015). "The man with the plan". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 30 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Escambia Commission Taking Over The County Jail From The Sheriff". North Escambia (News). 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Barrows, Mollye (20 November 2014). "Jail explosion: No criminal charges, changes needed". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  6. ↑ 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 Suwanee River. (Appleyard 2007) 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 Suwanee. Houpt, Ann Pratt (2003). Parker. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7385-1529-8.
  7. ↑ Nickinson, Shannon (24 October 2014). "John Wesley Hardin captured in Pensacola — again". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (6 August 2005). "Prosecutor won’t take sheriff’s cases after row over info release". First Amendment Center. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "US Attorney, Sheriff's Office Make Peace". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 17 August 2005.
  10. ↑ Outzen, Rick (22 January 2009). "The Rise And Fall Of The McNesby Empire". IN Weekly 11 (3). p. cover story. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Investigation of the Escambia County Sheriffs Office: Technical Assistance Letter" (PDF). 9 September 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Barrows, Mollye (13 February 2015). "Escambia Sheriff withdraws from federal task forces". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Sheriff’s Office Rejoins Partnerships With US Marshals, FBI". North Escambia (News). 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Lithwick, Dahlia (August 2013). "David Morgan Is Wrong, Terribly Wrong". Slate. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  15. ↑ Leber, Rebecca (1 August 2013). "Florida Sheriff: Officers Who Shot Unarmed Black Man In His Driveway Followed ‘Standard Protocols’". ThinkProgress. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Escambia's K9 units one of the best in NWFL". Wear-TV (ABC 3) (Pensacola). 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014.
  17. ↑ "Escambia Sheriff’s K-9 tops at national trials". Studer Community Institute. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  18. ↑ Term ends in 2016. Next election is 8 November 2016. "Scheduled elections". Escambia County.
  19. ↑ "Sheriff Morgan". Escambia County Sheriff's Office. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Nickinson, Shannon (25 February 2015). "‘Cops’ gives Escambia Sheriff’s Office its close up". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.
  21. ↑ Nickinson, Shannon (22 April 2015). "Escambia Sheriff’s Office back on “Cops”". Studer Community Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015.

External links

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