Duties of the Sheriff

Dear Sheriff:  I have heard that any other sheriff’s department personnel, other than the jail personnel, are not mandated by law; that only the keeping of the jail is necessary for the county to fund for the sheriff.  Thus, it could be suggested that the county could choose to not fund personnel such as patrol/detective division officers and other non-jail related personnel and allow the Indiana State Police to respond to and investigate calls for service.  Can you comment? 

Answer:  As long as I can remember, even in my childhood, the Sheriff’s department was always the first responding officers outside the municipal limits in Elkhart County.  In fact, when the 911 system was developed, it was always answered by the county’s 911 center, which used to be under control of the Sheriff’s office.  Today, the 911 Center is independent from the Sheriff’s office, but uses our local municipal police and sheriff’s department as the primary resources for police calls for service, including emergencies.

The Indiana State Police, although very well respected and of which the Sheriff and local police agencies have a very cordial and cooperative working relationship, do not have the personnel needed in Elkhart County to take all the calls that are generated and normally answered by the Sheriff’s Department. 

In 2016, the Sheriff’s Department had 71,438 calls for service.  2,845 of these calls were traffic crashes.  The patrol division is the first responding police officer outside the municipal limits in Elkhart County, which encompasses 50-60% of the county’s population.  These calls include the initial response to homicides, and the response and investigation of crimes against persons and property.  Other duties we provide are warrant service, school resource officers, ordinance violations, traffic law enforcement, crime prevention initiatives such as education and high visibility neighborhood patrols, special crime details and salvage title inspections. 

To push all of this on to the Indiana State Police is not reasonable or realistic.  The State Police has a superintendent who is appointed by the Governor and the state police serves at the pleasure of the Governor.  The State Police are often pulled from their assigned county to provide security and control at large functions such as the Indianapolis 500, Indiana State Fair, Brickyard 400 and other large events requiring a state police presence. 

The Sheriff, elected by the people of Elkhart County, is accountable to the people and is easily accessible via email, social media, and phone or often in person.  The Sheriff has a face with a name that the people can count on for accountability and responsiveness.

Indiana code 36-2-13-5 provides for the duties of a sheriff: 

“The sheriff shall:

·         arrest without process persons who commit an offense within the sheriff's view, take them before a court of the county having jurisdiction, and detain them in custody until the cause of the arrest has been investigated;

·         suppress breaches of the peace, calling the power of the county to the sheriff's aid if necessary;

·         pursue and jail felons;

·         execute all process directed to the sheriff by legal authority;

·         serve all process directed to the sheriff from a court or the county executive;

·         attend and preserve order in all courts of the county;

·         take care of the county jail and the prisoners there;

·         take photographs, fingerprints, and other identification data as the sheriff shall prescribe of persons taken into custody for felonies or misdemeanors…”

As you can see by the list above, the jail, although one of the largest tasks and liabilities for the Sheriff, is not the only mandate by law.  The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department is a full service organization by law and necessity and is dedicated to being your first responders to serve and protect.

Ask-the-Sheriff a question by emailing Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers at brogers@elkhartcountysheriff.com.

Alert sent on 10/09/2017 at 9:46AM EDT

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