Union Parish Sheriff's Office

Union Parish Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	UPSO
Motto	Service Before Self
Agency overview
Formed	1839
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Union, Louisiana, United States
Size	905 sq mi
Population	22,344
General nature	Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Farmerville, Louisiana
Agency executive	Dusty Gates, Sheriff
Website
http://www.unionsheriff.com/

The Union Parish Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency of Union Parish, Louisiana. It falls under the authority of the Sheriff, an elected official who is the chief law enforcement officer of the parish. UPSO is headquartered in Farmerville, Louisiana.

The Sheriff[]

The current Sheriff of Union Parish is Dusty Gates.^[1] He was first sworn as the sheriff following long time Sheriff Bob Buckley's death in September 2013.^[2] He began his career in law enforcement with the Farmerville Police Department, working six months and then moved to the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office, where he worked for four years. He then became a state trooper for Louisiana State Police, eventually retiring as the supervisor of criminal investigations in north Louisiana after 30 years of service.^[3] After retiring from Louisiana State Police in 2009, he joined UPSO as the Chief Deputy.

Fallen Deputies[]

Four UPSO deputies have been killed in the line of duty. The first line of duty death was in 1964 and the most recent was in 1986.^[4]

References[]