Harford County Sheriff's Office

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Harford County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is the second largest sheriff's office in Maryland[1] and is the primary law enforcement agency servicing a population of 241,402 persons within 440.35 square miles (1,140.5 km2) within Harford County, MD.[2]

History[]

The HCSO was created on March 22, 1774 after an act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1773 as Baltimore County was divided in half creating the new county of Harford. Thomas Miller was appointed the first Sheriff by the Lord Proprietor of the Province, Henry Harford (the county's namesake). Although initially appointed, all subsequent Sheriffs were elected to two-year terms until 1914 when the term was extended to four years.[3]

Organization[]

The current Sheriff is Jeff Gahler. The HCSO employs over 500 sworn and civilian support staff and has three basic duties: general law enforcement, court-order enforcement, and correctional services. The HCSO also has a myriad of special operations such as K-9, SWAT, and Accident Investigation among others.[4]

In 2013, the Sheriff's office opened an aviation unit with the granting of a Bell OH-58 helicopter.[5] In 2015 the aviation program was discontinued.

Rank Structure and Insignia[]

Title Insignia Duties
Sheriff
US-O7 insignia.svg
 Director of Harford County Sheriff's Office
Colonel
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 Deputy Director of Harford County Sheriff's Office
Major
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 Bureau Chief
Captain
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 Precinct/Division Commander
Lieutenant
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 Unit/Shift Commander
Sergeant
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 Specialty Unit/Sector Commander
Corporal
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 First Line Supervisor
Deputy First Class
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 Road Patrol, Civil Process, Court Officer
Detective
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Deputy
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See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Harford County Sheriff's Office - Official Site". Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  2. ^ Harford County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau Archived 2011-07-11 at WebCite
  3. ^ "Harford County Sheriff's Office - Official Site". Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  4. ^ Harford County Sheriff‘s Office - Official Site[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Harford Sheriff's Office announces aviation unit". The Baltimore Sun. 3 December 2013.

External links[]

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