Will County Sheriff's Office

Will County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	WCSO
Agency overview
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	County (US) of Will County, Illinois in the state of Illinois, United States
Legal jurisdiction	Will County, Illinois
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Joliet, Illinois
Sworn members	600 employees at full strength
Sheriff responsible	Mike Kelley
Website
www.willcosheriff.org
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Will County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Will County, Illinois. It is the second largest sheriff's department in Illinois, with approximately 600 sworn and civilian employees when at full operational strength. It is headed by the Sheriff of Will County, currently Mike Kelley.

Sheriff's deputies outside of the patrol and investigations divisions provide the other services of the sheriff, such as service of process, fugitive apprehension, enforcing evictions and levies, securing courthouses, transporting prisoners, and operating the 900-plus detainee population of the Will County Adult Detention Facility.

A Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor of the Will County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff's Office divisions

The Will County Sheriff's Office is divided into three divisions.^[1]

• The Administration Division is responsible for courthouse security, civil paper service, and support services to the rest of the department.^[2]

• The Detention Division is responsible for housing inmates both awaiting trial and those who have been sentenced to serve at the Will County Adult Detention Facility. The ADF was expanded in 2009 and can now hold over 1000 inmates. The ADF is one of only 3% of the 3400 jails in the United States to have earned accreditation from the American Correctional Association.^[3] The Detention Division when fully staffed has 234 correctional officers and supervisors.

• The Enforcement Division is by far the most visible and is charged with patrolling unincorporated areas of Will County as well as assisting suburban police departments with police operations including, but not limited to, criminal investigation, evidence services, traffic accident reconstruction, narcotics investigation, and hostage/barricade incidents. When fully staffed the enforcement division has 233 sworn deputies and supervisors. Within Will County's 677,560 total population approximately 115,000 people live in unincorporated areas. There are several census-designated unincorporated populated areas the Sheriff's department is responsible for:

Crystal Lawns, population 1,872

Fairmont, population 2,459

Frankfort Square, population 9,276

Ingalls Park, population 3,314

Lakewood Shores, population 1,347

Preston Heights, population 2,575

Willowbrook, population 2,076

And while Lakewood Falls and Carillon subdivisions are not considered a CDP their combined population is 8,421. Both subdivisions are located on Weber Rd south of I-55.

In addition to the unincorporated areas the Sheriff's department is contracted by Godley & Diamond to patrol their portion of Will County. The Sheriff's department is also contracted to patrol Homer Glen providing 21 deputies and supervisors.

• The patrol bureau is divided into three 8 hour shifts patrolling the following 6 areas consisting of all or part of the following townships:

• Northwest (Channahon, DuPage, Joliet, Lockport, Plainfield, Troy, and Wheatland)
• Southwest (Channahon, Custer, Florence, Jackson, Manhattan, Reed, Wesley, Wilmington, and Wilton)
• Central (DuPage, Homer, Jackson, Joliet, Lockport, Manhattan, and New Lenox)
• Homer Glen (Homer Glen)
• Lincolnway (Frankfort, Homer, Manhattan, and New Lenox)
• East (Crete, Green Garden, Monee, Peotone, Washington, Will)

Rank structure and insignia

Title	Insignia	Notes
Sheriff		The Sheriff is elected to a 4 year term by the citizens of Will County.
Undersheriff		The Undersheriff is selected by the Sheriff and is the 2nd in command.
Chief Deputy		There is currently only 1 chief deputy and he is in charge of the ADF.
Deputy Chief		There are currently 6 deputy chiefs in charge of the 6 bureaus within the Sheriff's Department.
Lieutenant/ Correctional Lieutenant/ Director		Lieutenants are promoted from a list of sergeants who have tested for lieutenant. Within the department lieutenants serve as shift commanders and section supervisors. Directors are selected by the Sheriff and are largely a political position. There are currently no directors within the department.
Sergeant/ Correctional Sergeant		Sergeants are promoted from a list of deputies/ correctional officer who have been with the department for 4 years and have tested for sergeant. Within the department sergeants are either assigned to a patrol area or a specialized unit to supervise deputies/ correctional officers.
Deputy Sheriff/ Correctional Officer	No Insignia	Deputies and correctional officers are hired from separate tested lists. Correctional officers wanting to "patch over" and become a deputy must test for the position just like civilians.

Equipment

• Deputies and correctional officers are provided all of their uniforms and equipment. Deputies are issued the Glock 22, Remington Model 870, and an X26 Taser. Some deputies are also issued an AR-15. Deputies are provided with a take home squad car equipped with a panasonic toughbook. The uniform consists of dark brown pants and a tan shirt.

References

1. "Departments". Will County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
2. "Administration". Will County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved November 2013.
3. "Will County Adult Detention Facility". Will County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved November 2013.

External links

• Illinois State Police: 2010 - 2011 Annual Uniform Crime Report