# American law enforcement agencies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799 "2006-01-20T07:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/1 "2006-01-20T07:27:31Z")
I like a good cop show as much as the next guy, but I often gets meself very confuzzed. What’s the difference between the Police Department (eg LAPD), the Sheriff’s Department (eg a Deputy Sheriff) and a State Trooper? They all seem to have woowoo lights and guns 'n all, but they obviously fulfil different functions. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/2 "2006-01-20T07:40:41Z")
Police Departments generally police cities and towns and fall under the budget and supervision of the mayor and local government. Sherriff’s Department is typically under the jurisdiction of the County. State Troopers fall within the auspises of the State, obviously. Basically the difference is who pays them and what their responsibilities are. All have essentially the same authority as it applies to a citizen it just depends where you’re located. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/3 "2006-01-20T07:44:22Z")
One more detail: the head honcho of each has a different name. There’s the Chief of Police, the County Sheriff, and the State Police Commander. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/4 "2006-01-20T07:47:21Z")
Thanks **Omniscient**. We have 10\*8 running at the moment. They seem to patrol the city, and I was wondering, in terms of heirarchy, who would be the superior agency at a crime scene, such as a gang shoot-out? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/5 "2006-01-20T08:02:45Z")
I can’t say with absolute certainty, but the Local authorities have jurisdiction over anything within their boundaries. A gang shooting in a city would be the sole responsibility of the City Police Department unless it involved federal agencies. If the shooting took place in small towns or unincorporated areas it’s the sole responsibility of the County Sheriff. State Troopers’ primary concern is anything taking place at State government buildings and on the Interstate expressways. I’m sure there’s varying levels of cooperation between agencies across the country and there might be exceptions to the rule if a County Sheriff’s Deputy were the first on the scene of an emergency within a town or suburb. Most likely however that Local authorities would take over the scene once they arrived. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/6 "2006-01-20T08:07:46Z")
Just noticed that there’s an almost identical thread in GQ right now that tackles the question in more detail than I did. Here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/7 "2006-01-20T08:29:17Z")
New York City had a Sheriff’s Department, but it dealt exclusively with civil law enforcement. More recently it seems to have been shut down entirely. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/8 "2006-01-20T08:49:08Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > New York City had a Sheriff’s Department, but it dealt exclusively with civil law enforcement. More recently it seems to have been shut down entirely. The NYC Sherriff’s office is still around. They serve warrants and lawsuits, conduct seized property auctions, etc. There used to be a sherriff for each county (borough) but now they’re consolidated into a single sherriff’s office for the whole city. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/9 "2006-01-20T08:49:45Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just noticed that there’s an almost identical thread in GQ right now that tackles the question in more detail than I did. > > Here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799) Thanks again **Omniscient** , and more so for the link. Very interesting indeed. /Hijack/ [Cop related] On preview, this just popped up on my news screen. [http://www.news24.com/News24/South\_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442\_1866508,00.html](http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1866508,00.html) Damn, damn, damn. Just damn. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/10 "2006-01-20T09:01:18Z")
> [@Mellivora capensis](#): > > Thanks again **Omniscient** , and more so for the link. Very interesting indeed. No sweat. Consider this thread the Readers Digest version. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/11 "2006-01-20T09:05:38Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just noticed that there’s an almost identical thread in GQ right now that tackles the question in more detail than I did. > > Here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354799) Thanks again **Omniscient** , and more so for the link. Very interesting indeed. /Hijack/ [Cop related] On preview, this just popped up on my news screen. [http://www.news24.com/News24/South\_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442\_1866508,00.html](http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1866508,00.html) Damn, damn, damn. Just damn. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/12 "2006-01-20T09:08:40Z")
Crap. Looks like one of those days. Would a kindly mod do the necessary to the double post, please? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/13 "2006-01-20T11:53:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **Omniscient** said: > If the shooting took place in small towns or unincorporated areas it’s the sole responsibility of the County Sheriff. > > State Troopers’ primary concern is anything taking place at State government buildings and on the Interstate expressways. Out here in Western PA, in a town that doesn’t have police, when you call 911 for one of those kind of emergencies they send the state police. The county sheriff’s office is very small and mostly seems to concern itself with serving warrants, transporting prisoners, and issuing concealed carry licenses. The 911 dispatcher sends out the state trooper for the domestic violence happening on the street in front of your house at 3 am. ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/14 "2006-01-20T19:06:43Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Out here in Western PA, in a town that doesn’t have police, when you call 911 for one of those kind of emergencies they send the state police. The county sheriff’s office is very small and mostly seems to concern itself with serving warrants, transporting prisoners, and issuing concealed carry licenses. The 911 dispatcher sends out the state trooper for the domestic violence happening on the street in front of your house at 3 am. Or when things seem to get big, the local and county police become one and the same. Here in Las Vegas we have the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is run by Sheriff Bill Young. There is no county police department because “metro” is responsible for the entirety of Clark County. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/15 "2006-01-21T07:49:55Z")
> [@kinoons](#): > > Or when things seem to get big, the local and county police become one and the same. Here in Las Vegas we have the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is run by Sheriff Bill Young. There is no county police department because “metro” is responsible for the entirety of Clark County. Whereas here in Ohio, we do not have a county police department because the County sheriff takes care of the unincorporated parts of the county. The cities and towns have the police departments, entirely separate from the sheriff. But the sheriff is still the head law enforcement officer for the county, at least here in the more rural counties. Probably not so much in place like Cuyahoga county with no unincorporated rural areas. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/16 "2006-01-21T18:18:34Z")
> [@Lok](#): > > Whereas here in Ohio, we do not have a county police department because the County sheriff takes care of the unincorporated parts of the county. The cities and towns have the police departments, entirely separate from the sheriff. But the sheriff is still the head law enforcement officer for the county, at least here in the more rural counties. Probably not so much in place like Cuyahoga county with no unincorporated rural areas. I gotta’ say, having the sheriff running a county-wide PD operating in place of a municipal PD is not a common state of affairs in populated counties. There’s some kind of county police department thing going on in Athens, GA, but aside from that I’d want a cite to see if that situation has developed anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-law-enforcement-agencies/340799/17 "2006-01-21T22:19:50Z")
Well **kinoons** just posted that Las Vegas has that situation. Here the reverse is true. The sheriff handles the unincorporated portions of the county (or places like where I grew up that, while incorporated, were too small to afford their own police force.) He does not run the municipal PD in any way, it is completely seperate. But he is the lead when dealing with outside law enforcement and coordinating things within the county between different agencies. Lok