The Escambia County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) or Escambia Sheriff's Office (ESO) is the primary law enforcement agency of unincorporated Escambia County and the town of

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. ECSO is headed by a sheriff, who serves a four-year term and is elected in a partisan election. The current sheriff is Chip W. Simmons.

Department Structure

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is headed by a sheriff. Currently, the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

is Chip W. Simmons who replaced former Sheriff David Morgan in 2021. Simmons was previously Chief of Police for the City of Pensacola, Florida, in Escambia County, Florida.

Chief Deputy

The rank of chief deputy is the second-highest rank in the Office, reporting directly to the Sheriff. Each chief deputy serves as a member of the senior command staff and assists the sheriff in managing civilian and commissioned personnel.

Precincts

*Central Booking Division: 1700 West Leonard Street, Pensacola *Pensacola Beach (1st Precinct) Substation: 43 Fort Pickens Road,

Pensacola Beach Pensacola Beach is an unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is situated south of Pensacola (and Gulf Breeze connected via bridges spanning to the Fairpoint Pen ...

*Big Lagoon (2nd Precinct) Substation: 12950 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola *South (Warrington) Pensacola (3rd Precinct) Substation: 20 North Navy Blvd., Pensacola *North Pensacola (4th Precinct) Substation: 97 W. Hood Drive. Pensacola *Cantonment/Molino (5th Precinct) Substation: 5844 North Hwy 29, Molino *Century (6th Precinct) Substation: 7500 North Century Blvd.,

Rank structure

Before October 2013, the sheriff had control over the Escambia County Jail, located at 2935 North L Street, but after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation reported that the jail did not provide required minimum services and was chronically understaffed, the jail was moved under the direct supervision of the County Commissioners. In April 2014 a natural gas explosion rocked the jail, causing some to reconsider the wisdom of direct Commission administration.

History

The office of sheriff was established with the transfer from Spain in 1821. The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

title ''Alguazil'' was initially used for the office. Henri Peire, a former privateer and colonel in the United States Army, was named the first sheriff by General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. On 23 August 1877, the notorious outlaw

John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming h ...

was arrested by Sheriff William H. Hutchinson working with Texas Rangers Lt. John B. Armstrong and Jack R. Duncan, accompanied by nine deputies. In the 21st century relations between the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and federal law enforcement were occasionally strained. In 2005 under Sheriff McNesby, disagreements over the release of information in drug cases led to a monthlong stand-off between the sheriff's office and the U.S. Attorney's office, which was only settled by the intervention of three federal judges. In September 2012, the Civil Rights Division completed its report on excessive use of force by the Escambia Sheriff's Office, that together with the Department of Justice's 2013 report on the inadequate status of the Escambia jail further exacerbated relations. In February 2015 Sheriff Morgan severed ties with both the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force headed by the FBI, and the U.S. Marshal's Regional Fugitive Task Force, pulling the deputies assigned to those duties. Again the issue was one of information dissemination. In December 2015 agreement was reached with the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee to rejoin both task forces. Controversy arose in 2013 when ECSO deputies shot a 60-year-old unarmed man in his driveway. The canines of the sheriff's office received national honors at the U.S. Police Canine Association National Police Dog Trials in October 2014, where they had the top team scores. Before leaving office in early 2021, Sheriff David Morgan used $75,000 in office funds to commission a life-sized metal statue of himself. He said his intent was use the figure of himself saluting as an addition to the office's memorial to fallen officers. The new Sheriff Chip Simmons declined to install the statue in front of the office's main entrance.

List of sheriffs

*Henri Peire 1821 *Charles Bradford 1821–1822 *William Davison 1823–1826 *Charles Mifflin 1827 *Henry Wilson 1828 *Adam Gordon 1829 *James Pendleton 1829–1830 *Florencio Commyns 1830–1837 *Jesse Allen 1837–1840 *Peter Woodbine 1840–1842 *Ebenezer Dorr IV 1842–1846 *Mortimar Bright 1846 *Angus Nicholson 1846–1847 *Antoine Collins 1847–1851 *Francis de la Rua 1851–1852 *Francis Maura 1852–1854 *Joseph Crosby 1854–1857 *William Jordan 1857–1859 *Daniel Williams 1859–1865 *James B. Roberts 1865–1868 *George Wentworth 1868–1870 *Henry Campbell 1870 *E. R. Payne 1870 *George Wells 1870–1874 *J. N. Coombs 1874–1875 *A. M. Green 1875–1877 *W. H. Hutchison 1877–1885 *Joseph Wilkins 1885–1893 *George E. Smith 1893–1903 *James C. Van Pelt 1903–1913 *A. Cary Ellis 1913–1917 *James C. Van Pelt 1917–1919 *Hurdis S. Whitaker 1919–1921 *A. Cary Ellis 1921–1923 *Mose S. Penton 1923–1932 *H. E. Gandy 1932–1941 *Howard L. Mayes 1941–1945 *R. L. Kendrick 1945–1957 *Emmett Shelby 1957–1961 *Bill Davis 1961–1970 *Royal Untreiner 1970–1981 *J. "Vince" Sealy 1981–1989 *Charlie Johnson 1989–1993 *Jim Lowman 1993–2001 *Ron McNesby 2001–2009 *David Morgan 2009–2021 *Chip Simmons 2021-Present Sixteen policemen from this agency have died in the line of duty.

Television

The sheriff's office produces a television show, every other Tuesday, entitled ''Your Escambia County Sheriff’s Report''. It is broadcast on Blab TV (Cox Channel 1006). In 2015 the Escambia sheriff's office was twice featured on the reality program ''Cops''.

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{Fla LawEnforce Sheriffs' departments of Florida Escambia County, Florida 1845 establishments in Florida Government agencies established in 1845