# Cops, Sherriff, FBI **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668 "2003-01-19T19:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/1 "2003-01-19T19:22:58Z")
The Sherriff’s Department and FBI are law enforcement agencies. But they’re not concidered Police. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/2 "2003-01-19T19:47:18Z")
You could check the dictionary. From the American Heritage Dictionary Police > [@](#): > > 1. The governmental department charged with the regulation and control of the affairs of a community, now chiefly the department established to maintain order, enforce the law, and prevent and detect crime. Sheriff > [@](#): > > 1. The chief law enforcement officer for the courts in a U.S. county. There are many different law enforcement agencies. The principal differences seem to be semantic and jurisdictional. They all chase down bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/3 "2003-01-19T20:03:24Z")
The Sheriff has other functions. In New York City, for example, where a very effective City P.D. covers the entire city, each of the five counties has a small Sheriff’s Department. Among the other functions of the Sheriff are the formal serving of court orders and, in states which have separate jail and prison systems, the running of the county jail, where prisoners sentenced to a short definite sentence are housed (e.g., 30 days for petty theft does not require prison time, but does require a jail to house the convict). In addition, in most jurisdictions the Sheriff is the principal law enforcement officer for his county, and has the right to give orders to state and local police when in his opinion an emergency demands a coordinated effort. Ordinarily he will work in collaboration with the commanders of the local office of the state police and of any local police departments, rather than in command over them – but it’s his prerogative to take command of the entire operation when a single voice issuing orders to all law enforcement personnel is essential. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/4 "2003-01-19T20:51:39Z")
pigs is pigs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/5 "2003-01-19T21:00:46Z")
The officers who work for the sheriff, and actually chase down the bad guys, are deputies. Usually. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/6 "2003-01-19T21:04:22Z")
> [@](#): > > The Sheriff has other functions. In New York City, for example, where a very effective City P.D. covers the entire city, each of the five counties has a small Sheriff’s Department… I’ve always wondered if the five boroughs had sheriff’s departments. Thanks, **Polycarp**. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/7 "2003-01-19T21:37:28Z")
> [@](#): > > There are many different law enforcement agencies. The principal differences seem to be semantic and jurisdictional. I would think that semantics is the big issue. Sherriff departments in the U.S. are always a county-based (and county-wide) organization. The word _police_ can be applied to a number of organizations. For example, in Michigan the law enforcement agency run by the state is known as the Michigan State Police. In Ohio, the state-run group is called the Ohio Highway Patrol. Since each state established their organizations separately, the jurisdictions and responsibilities, as well as the names, of the MSP and OHP are, in fact, different (other than that both of them are turned loose to run speed checks on state highways). The MSP has much broader powers/responsibilities than the ones Ohio granted to the OHP. (I have no idea whether “state police” and “highway patrol” have similarly broad or narrow jurisdictions across the country, but this is an example of the use of the word police for a non-municipal force.) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/8 "2003-01-19T22:28:08Z")
I think the lines between the two have been blurred lately. The only difference I know of is if the head of the law enforcement agency is elected, it is a sheriff’s department, if the head is appointed by mayor or council, it is a police department. Up until 1990, King County, Washington had a sheriff’s department. The department was headed by an elected sheriff. Due to infighting, the county council made the head of the law enforcement agency appointed. We then had a King County Police Department. 1998, the county council changed it back to an elected position and we are now back to having a King County Sheriffs Department. Due to grumblings from certain quarters, there is talk to changing back to an appointed police chief again. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/9 "2003-01-19T23:03:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by happyheathen \* > \*\*pigs is pigs 🙂 \*\* And former members is former members. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/10 "2003-01-19T23:19:13Z")
The City of St. Louis (MO) has a Police department that enforces the laws of the city and state. These include traffic laws as well as the laws against robbery, rape etc. The City also has a Sheriffs Department. This group acts as court officers by serving court papers and the like. I think they also have control of the city’s jail. The City of St. Louis is also it’s own COUNTY. In St. Louis COUNTY, there are many municipalities, small citys, that have their own police departments. The St. Louis County Police provide police services to the unincorporated areas of the county as well as to any of the municipalities that contract for their services. The St. Louis County Sheriff provides services to the County courts similar to those of the City sheriff. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-sherriff-fbi/149668/11 "2003-01-20T19:50:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diceman \* > I’ve always wondered if the five boroughs had sheriff’s departments. Actually, according to the [NYC Office of the Sheriff Homepage](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/sheriff.html), in 1942 a city charter amendment merged the five county/borough sheriffs into one city-wide office. The function of the NYC Sheriff is: > [@](#): > > The Department of Finance Office of the Sheriff (Sheriff) is the chief civil law enforcement agency for the City of New York. The jurisdiction of the Sheriff spans the entire legal spectrum, overlapping both civil and criminal law. Sheriffs enforce judicial orders issued by the New York State Family, Supreme, and Surrogate Courts, as well as those issued by the New York City Civil and Criminal Courts. > > From an operational perspective, the Office of the Sheriff is divided into two units: the Private Sector Unit and the Public Sector Unit. The Private Sector Unit provides civil law enforcement services to the business community and general public throughout the City of New York. This unit processes legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, orders, and writs. It is also responsible for the seizure of property that will either be safeguarded pending a future decision of a court, or be applied towards the satisfaction of a judgment that has already been rendered. The Public Sector Unit is responsible for reducing debt owed to the City by providing full judgment collection and enforcement services to creditor agencies and by also augmenting the City’s own debt-collection efforts.