Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	PBSO
Motto	'Putting Community First'
Agency overview
Employees	4,000+
Volunteers	4,300+
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Map of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction
Size	2,386 sq mi (6,180 km²)
Population	1,294,654 County-Wide Unincorporated Population 680,000
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	3228 Gun Club Rd., West Palm Beach, Florida
Agency executive	Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff
Facilities
Patrol Districts	20[1]
Website
PBSO

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, commonly known by the acronym PBSO, is the largest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County, Florida.^[2] With more than 4,000 employees and 4,300 volunteers, the department provides police services for more than 680,000 residents in the county's unincorporated areas and 120,000 in seven cities and towns. The department oversees the county jail system, provides security at the county courthouse in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach International Airport and transports inmates to and from the courthouse and local hospitals.

Overview[]

The county has 39 municipalities, encompassing some 60 percent of the County population. The remainder lives in unincorporated areas. . Some have their own police departments (e.g., the cities of Atlantis, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach and Tequesta), while others have town agencies (e.g., the towns of Jupiter, Juno Beach, and North Palm Beach). The following cities contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to provide law enforcement services.

Communities served[]

A PBSO cruiser in West Palm Beach

Currently PBSO provides law enforcement services to three regional patrol bureaus, North, South and Western.^[3]

Jail facilities[]

There are two jail facilities operated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department. One is in Belle Glade, called the West Detention Center, which houses all custody levels from minimum to medium to and maximum. At any one time it can contain up to 991 inmates (total bed capacity), with a staff of 188. The facility has a video visitation program which allows families to communicate with inmates remotely.^[4]

The largest jail is the Main Detention Center.^[2] Three towers make up the center, The South Tower, The East Tower, and The West Tower.^[5] The largest is The South Tower, the building was constructed in 1993 from concrete and steel with a cost of $52 million.^[5] The East and West Towers were built in 1983; they now flank the South, completing the Main Detention Center.^[5] The Main Detention Center's primary function is to hold high risk inmates, federal inmates, and those inmates who are in need of special medical attention and/or are unable to operate at other facilities.^[5] The total number of beds at the facility is 2,166. The South Tower can hold 1,285 inmates, East has 418 beds, and The West has 404 beds.^[5]

Communications[]

The Communications department at the PBSO consists of over 180 employees.^[6] There are four call centers that operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year taking in over a million calls annually.^[6] The centers are located in Headquarters in West Palm Beach, the Courthouse Command Center, Belle Glade - District 5, and the Palm Beach International Airport.^[6] Texting to 911 is also an option for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech impediment, or are in an emergency situation where voice call is not possible.^[6]

Domestic violence prevention[]

The Domestic Violence Unit consists of a sergeant, two detectives and 5 domestic violence advocates.^[7] The advocates are trained to help and assist victims of domestic violence filing the petition and be with them throughout the legal process as support consultants.^[7]

Hiring process[]

The first step to becoming a Sheriff is submitting a physical test called the "Basic Motor Skills Test" where a trainer will determine how physically fit the candidate is.^[8] After the physical testing has been completed and the requirements are submitted, the application process begins.^[8] If the Sheriff's Office feels as if the applicant can contribute they will bring them in for various tests, such as a polygraph test and drug test, as well as multiple psychiatric interviews.^[8] If all tests are passed, the applicant is invited to the Criminal Justice Academy where different situations are proposed with the invitees acting as a Sheriff in these instances to prepare the aspiring Sheriffs to be ready for many different situations.^[8] The Academy takes about 22 weeks to complete, after that they are sworn into the PBSO.^[8]

Controversies and criticisms[]

School security training[]

In response to school shootings, Palm Beach county tried to implement school security training, which become a state law in 2020.^[9] The school district hired a private firm in Boynton Beach called Invictus, but the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deemed the training inadequate. The sheriff's office took matters into their own hands. A Boynton Beach senator Lori Berman among other lawmakers discussed closing the loophole allowing a local school district to hire a local company like Invictus to train school armed guards. Invictus did not agree and defended training and they sued the district $100,000.^[10]

Robert Hayes[]

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office charged Robert Hayes with 1st degree murder of Rachel Bey.^[11] Rachel Bey was a prostitute found naked and dead 50 feet from Beeline highway, she was beaten and strangled. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says Robert Hayes is responsible for at least five other murders of women in the state of Florida. Hayes was interviewed about these murders, but the Sheriff's Office did not find any evidence against him.^[12]

Stalking[]

A Palm Beach County Deputy Sheriff was arrested after putting a GPS tracker on a woman's car and stalking her.^[13] This woman was married but was having an affair with a Deputy Sheriff named Jose Miguel Fernandez. The woman ended up ending the affair with Fernandez but after the fact, he met her on three occasions out of the blue. The husband ended up finding the GPS tracker under the car and Fernandez said he did it because the husband threatened his son.^[14]

Composition[]

Captain Stormes (left) of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office maps out traffic patterns to help facilitate distribution of ice and water to residents affected by Hurricane Frances at the South Florida Fairgrounds distribution center (2004)

The Sheriff's Office is composed of roughly 4,186 employees, including approximately 1,584 sworn law enforcement personnel, 697 sworn corrections personnel, 1,905 civilian personnel and 1,800 volunteers.^[15] The annual operating budget for the PBSO is approximately $620,000,000. Since January 2005, Ric L. Bradshaw has been sheriff for Palm Beach County with 45 years of law enforcement experience.^[16]

Rank structure[]

Title	Insignia
Sheriff
Chief Deputy
Chief
Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Corporal
Detective
Deputy

Executive staff[]

Sheriff Bradshaw's highest-level Executive staff consists of the following individuals:^[17]

List of Sheriffs[]

• George B. Baker (1909 - 1920)^[18]
• Robert C. Baker (1920 - 1923, 1924 - 1931)
• Edwin Albert Stephenson (1923)
• William Hiram Lawrence (1931 - 1933, 1934 - 1941)
• Jack S.Willson (1933)
• Lucian Raymond “Jack” Baker (1941 - 1945)
• John F. Kirk (1945 - 1960)
• Martin Kellenberger (1961, 1962 - 1967)
• Peter Widener (1961)
• Clinton E. Taylor (1962)
• William Heidtman (1967 - 1976)
• Richard P. Wille (1977 - 1995)
• Charles McCutcheon (1995 - 1996)
• Bob Neumann (1997 - 2000)
• Ed Bieluch (2001 - 2004)
• Ric L. Bradshaw (2005–present)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

• Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office website
• The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Foundation website