Ridgeway County Sheriff's Office

The Ridgeway County Sheriff's Office (RCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency of the County of Ridgeway.

The RCSO is mostly tasked with enforcing the laws of the Ridgeway county, executing judicial orders such as warrants, providing court security, and taking care of the county jail and its inmates. The Sheriff's Office also employs detectives to investigate and prevent organized crime along with handling reports of corruption within law enforcement and county government.

The agency has county-wide jurisdiction, but are mostly responsible for patrolling the county roads and areas that do not have local agencies to provide law enforcement.

As of June 2021, the RCSO is the largest law enforcement agency in the Ridgeway County with total of 80 employees.

Facilities
The Ridgeway County Sheriff's Office currently has two facilities used for the agency's operations. The RCSO headquarters are located in outer Palmer, beside the Palmer hills and near the Oakland highway exit. The headquarters serve as the agency's primary facility for its operations. The facility is comprised of the county jail, offices for agency command, a dispatch room, and other premises to maintain the functions of the Sheriff's Office and its divisions.

The RCSO also possesses another facility in Sterling Heights, mainly used as an auxiliary station due to the agency's large jurisdiction. The so-called substation has been found vital due to the high organized crime rate in Sterling, and is thus often used by other law enforcement agencies as well.

The agency previously had headquarters located in Palmer, in the current Palmer Police Department station before the completion of the current headquarters.

Rank structure
A person willing to join the RCSO is required to have an active certification from the Law Enforcement Training Center. Persons accepted into the agency are subject to a Cadet Training Program which usually lasts for a week. After the program, Cadets will be promoted to the rank of Probationary Deputy. After a successful one-week long probationary period, the Probationary Deputies will obtain the rank of Deputy and are thus recognized as full-time employees of the agency.

The RCSO consists of different ranks with each rank having somewhat different responsibilities and tasks. Different ranks can be recognized by their rank insignias displayed on the employee's shoulders. Do note that Probationary Deputies and Cadets do not have an insignia.

Agency organization
The Ridgeway County Sheriff's Office is divided into two branches, with each branch having three divisions under them. Upon entering the probationary period, employees are automatically assigned to a regular patrol squad. Employees are, however, able to transfer to another division should they be accepted by the division command.

Apart from regular patrol duties, all employees of the Sheriff's Office are trained in protections and basic inmate care.

Field Operations Branch
As its name suggests, the field operations branch is mostly involved in day-to-day operations of the RCSO. The branch is led by a Captain with two assisting Lieutenants overseeing the divisions.

Patrol Squads
There are currently three patrol squads (A-C) tasked with regurlarly patrolling and enforcing laws within their jurisdiction. Each squad is led by a Sergeant and Corporal.

Court & Corrections Services
The Court and Corrections Services employ specially trained deputies to take care of the county's correctional facility. They are also responsible for acting as bailiffs during court proceedings and also serve any and all court documents.

Training Division
The training division employs instructors to educate all RCSO employees regarding current policies, guidelines, and other materials.

Support Operations Branch
The support operations branch is mainly tasked with supporting the field operations along with raising public safety through investigations and crime prevention.

Criminal Investigations Division
The Criminal Investigations Division, shortly CID, is tasked with investigating organized crime and neutralizing any threats towards the public safety and the county's security. The division is known for its efforts of combating firearms trafficking and corruption within law enforcement and the county government.

Internal Affairs Unit
The Internal Affairs unit is responsible for ensuring that employees of the agency are held to high standards and are following policies and guidelines set by the RCSO. The unit handles most of the administrative work such as complaints, leave of absences, internal investigations, etc.

Special Response Team
The Special Response Team, shortly SRT, consists of specially trained deputies to handle major crime and deploy to high risk situations when regular deputies are unable to handle the situation. The team is also responsible for executing search warrants and high risk protections. The SRT is also equipped with specialized gear to handle the situations they are involved in.

Equipment
The Sheriff's Office is known for it's cowboy-style ranger hats, being the only agency using them as an official headgear. The RCSO has a large vehicle fleet, vehicles ranging from regular marked vehicles to vehicles without agency markings and undercover vehicles used by the Internal Affairs and CID. It has been controversial whether the agency's fleet will expand to aircrafts, such as a helicopter in the future.

The employees of the agency are often seen in somewhat light patrol gear regardless of the high rate of organized crime in the county. The Sheriff's Office has access to weapons with special attachments such as Para 17, Stetson M2-A, B1014, and the Wesler.