Osceola County Sheriff's Office

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office is the largest and chief law enforcement agency in Osceola County, Florida, located in Kissimmee. Per the State of Florida Constitution, the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county's incorporated and unincorporated areas. The current Sheriff is Marcos R. Lopez, the 20th sheriff of the county and the first Hispanic to serve as a Sheriff. The agency has over 700 employees and serves a population of 390,341. Osceola County deputies patrol 1,506 square miles (3,900 km2) which include Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Celebration, and Poinciana as well as several other unincorporated communities.

Osceola County Sheriff's Office
AbbreviationOCSO
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionOsceola County, Florida, USA
Map of Osceola County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction
Size1,506.35 sq mi (3,901.4 km2)
Population268,685
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersKissimmee, Florida
Sworn members500+
Agency executives
  • Marco R. Lopez, Sheriff
  • Dan Weis, Chief Deputy
  • Nirva Rodriguez, Executive Director
  • Robbie Alderman, Major over Patrol Bureau
  • Kevin Wilkinson, Major over Administration Bureau
  • Fred Hinderman, Major over CID Bureau
Website
Osceola County Sheriff's Office

History

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The Osceola County Sheriff's Office has been a CFA-accredited law enforcement agency since 1999.[1]

In 2021, a video went viral of a deputy slamming a student to the ground.[2]

In February 2022, the office charged one of its deputies with culpable negligence after he tased a suspect at a gas station and lit spilled gasoline, the subject, and himself on fire.[3] In April, two deputies killed a man and injured two others in a Target parking lot: they were suspected of shoplifting Pokemon cards and pizza.[4] Sheriff Lopez asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the incident,[5] but later said he did not intend to make changes to the department's tactics.[6]

Divisions

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Enforcement Bureau

  • Uniform Patrol
  • Aviation Unit
  • Mounted Patrol Unit
  • HIDTA Task Force
  • IRS Task Force
  • FBI-JTTF

Criminal Investigations Division

  • East Property Crimes
  • West Property Crimes
  • Economic Crimes
  • Persons Crimes
  • Sex Crimes/Child Abuse
  • Crime Analysis/Intelligence
  • Robbery
  • Violent Crimes
  • Evidence Unit
  • Forensics

Specialty Units

  • SWAT
  • Emergency Response Team
  • Agriculture/Marine
  • Community Response Team
  • K-9 Unit
  • Tourism Policing Unit
  • Traffic/DUI Unit
  • Gang Unit
  • N.E.T.
  • O.C.I.B.

Administrative Bureau

  • Civilian Volunteers
  • Civil Process
  • Communications
  • Community Services
  • Court Services
  • Crime Prevention
  • Fleet Maintenance
  • Records
  • Information Management
  • Quality Assurance and Accreditation
  • Research and Development
  • School Resource
  • Training
  • Warrants
  • K9-Unit

References

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  1. ^ "Law Enforcement – Florida Accreditation". flaccreditation.org. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  2. ^ "Osceola Sheriff investigating a video showing deputy slams Liberty High School student to ground. The School Resource Officer involved in the incident has been acquitted of criminal charges". WFTV. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  3. ^ Galbraith, Alex (2022-05-20). "Osceola County Sheriff's Office announces charges for deputy who lit suspect, himself on fire during Wawa arrest". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  4. ^ Rabines, Amanda; Reyes, Cristóbal (2022-04-28). "Killing by deputies at Kissimmee Target came during shoplifting arrest, records show". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  5. ^ Bechara, Stephanie (2022-05-10). "Lawyers dispute Osceola Sheriff's account of deadly shooting". www.mynews13.com. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  6. ^ Rabines, Amanda (2022-06-22). "Osceola County sheriff not looking to change tactics amid string of violent arrests". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
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