The Sheriff

I have always been curious between the distinction of officers and the jobs descriptions that go with their badges. The Sheriff, and the entire county, the Highway Patrol and the wideness of their jurisdiction that includes anything that's paved, and city Police Officers.

The rank and file of policing organization also fascinates me. The varying levels of captains and chiefs, and the politics involved within the entire organization and each individual precinct. I wonder where detectives and SWAT teams fall into the rank and file. I particularly am fascinated with internal affairs, and how they go about doing things, in the face of tremendous backlash against them. 

The sheriff is a completely different animal that a police officer. Their badges imply the same thing, and officer of law who is to be given respect and is responsible for fulfilling his/her duty. The biggest difference is that  the sheriff is elected by the population at large. Immediately, an elected official is thrust into a position of great responsibility, and must compensate for seniority, experience in the field and most importantly the respect of the deputies. Another huge difference is that the Sheriff also plays the role of Jailer, which though not a full fledged prison system, maintains significant responsibility on keeping criminals while they await trial or serve smaller sentences. The police precints have small jail cells, but the Sheriff is responsible for the entire counties jail system, and transportation, which is not small responsibility.

The Sheriff, along with the Highway patrol has a jurisdiction that scopes the county and at points, own territories of their own, like  East Los Angeles. The Sheriff also is responsible for the parks and landmark areas. The distinction  gets muddled in the courtroom, as a bailiff though important and considered Sheriffs deputy really is not at par with other peace officer. While this may be true he is the only person who really sees the entire criminal justice system from his podium. I am not sure if a Bailiff has the same authority as other badges officer, but he is on the judges side and never catches the level of heat that other officer might from the judges and lawyers in the courtroom.

Social Media has tarnished the images of the policing forces. Moreover the number of times and the means in which Cops are attacked in the field has been growing tremendously. . On the other side of the token,  ingrained corruption and cover ups within the culture  mining deep makes it difficult for anyone trying to make a change.

Regardless, especially in the west the Sheriff has a special spirit around it's duties. Chosen by the voters with the tremendous duty of protecting the citizens the sheriff must always find ways to make law enforcement stronger and keep citizens safer. The next challenge is electing a Sheriff who will make changes, It is a natural step and hopefully set a standard for other enforcement agencies to follow. The question is will it happen?