The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is the

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

that serves

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County () is a County (United States), county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the List ...

, and is the largest

sheriff's office 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, the , which is commonly ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. The MCSO provides patrol services and criminal investigation to unincorporated areas of the county and operates the

county jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

system. It also serves as the primary law enforcement agency for any

incorporated cities Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned ...

within the county that have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services (known as " contract cities"). The county sheriff is elected by the citizens and serves as the highest law enforcement official in Maricopa County. The current Sheriff of Maricopa County is Gerard “Jerry” Sheridan, elected in November 2024. As a result of policies and practices under former sheriff

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He was the Sheriffs in the United States, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, ...

the MCSO has received significant critical media coverage, federal investigation, and judicial oversight.

Law enforcement authority

The MCSO does not possess a legal identity separate from Maricopa County. Deputy Sheriffs of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office are delegated their law enforcement authority by the Sheriff of Maricopa County.

Districts

Maricopa County is the fourth largest county in the United States, and has a total area of . The county is currently divided into six geographical areas, referred to as Districts, and consist of District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, and District 7. Districts are generally staffed by a District Commander (Captain), Deputy Commander (Lieutenant), uniformed sergeants and patrol deputies, detectives, and administrative staff. Districts overlap city agencies, as the Sheriff's Office has concurrent jurisdiction in these areas. District 1 – covers an area of approximately in the southeast quadrant of the county. District One encompasses the cities of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Tempe, along with the Town of Guadalupe and CDP of Sun Lakes. District One also includes portions of the Town of Queen Creek, and the cities of Apache Junction, Scottsdale, and Phoenix, including the Ahwatukee Foothills. While District One is not the largest district in size, it is historically the busiest, averaging approximately 40% more calls for service than any of the other districts. District 2 – covers an area of approximately in the southwest quadrant of the county. District Two provides service to the rural areas of Buckeye, Laveen, Mobile, Rainbow Valley, and Tonopah, as well as to the contract cities of Gila Bend and Litchfield Park. District Two also includes portions of Avondale, Glendale, Goodyear, and Phoenix. District 3 – covers an area of approximately , bordered by Northern Avenue on the south and I-17 on the east, extending to the northern and western borders of the county. District Three includes the areas of Sun City and Sun City West, the communities of Wittmann, Waddell, Circle City, Morristown, Whispering Ranch, Aguila, Gladden, and the unincorporated neighborhoods surrounding Peoria, Surprise, and Wickenburg. District 4 – covers the unincorporated areas of Anthem, Desert Foothills, New River, Cave Creek, Carefree and Tonto Hills. District Four also provides law enforcement to the contract Towns of Cave Creek and Carefree. District 7 – covers the unincorporated areas of Fountain Hills, Tonto Verde and Rio Verde. It also provides contract law enforcement services on a contract basis to the Town of Fountain Hills.

Rank structure

The following insignia are respective of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Uniform Specification policy GC-20. Detectives and deputies are the same rank. Unlike other law enforcement agencies, detective is not a promotion within MCSO, but rather a different assignment.

Specialized units

Lake Patrol In addition to patrolling the unincorporated areas, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is responsible for patrolling the lakes and waterways in the recreational areas within the county. The Lake Patrol Division is responsible for law enforcement services in the recreational areas of Tonto National Forest and Lake Pleasant Regional Park. This area includes Saguaro, Canyon, Apache, Bartlett and Horseshoe Lakes as well as the Lower Salt and Verde River recreational areas, Four Peaks, Superstition, Mazatzals, Camp Creek and Seven Springs recreational and wilderness areas. The total area of responsibility is over , which are visited by an estimated 1.5 million people every year. Lake Patrol Division Deputy Sheriffs operate four-wheel-drive vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, patrol boats, jet skis, and air boats. All are certified

Emergency Medical Technician An emergency medical technician (often, more simply, EMT) is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and som ...

s and several are

Paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

s. The division also has a detective section which investigates crimes, deaths and boating accidents on the lakes and rivers. The Lake Patrol Division also has a highly specialized dive team which provides underwater recovery services throughout the county. Aviation Division The Aviation Division provides airborne law enforcement support to uniformed patrol, Lake Patrol, Search and Rescue operations, narcotics enforcement, extraditions and SWAT operations. The Aviation Division is staffed with a Commander, Helicopter and Fixed Wing Chief Pilot, Director of Maintenance, eight sworn Deputies, six Civilians including an Administrative Coordinator. The Division is a 24-hour-a-day 7 days a week operation and employs two helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft. The flagship of the division are two

Bell 407 The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter. A derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, the 407 uses the four-blade, soft-in-plane design rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army's OH-58D Kiowa ...

helicopter with a call signs of "Fox-1 and "Fox-2." These helicopters are equipped with

FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

(Forward Looking Infra Red), stabilized binoculars, Churchill moving map and an Trakka spotlight. These helicopters perform direct patrol, search and rescue operations, narcotics surveillance and photo missions. For fixed wing, the division utilizes two single engine

Cessna 206 The Cessna 205, 206 and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane), are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

. Both aircraft are housed at Deer Valley Airport and are used primarily for extraditing fugitives from other states. Fixed wing aircraft are also used for narcotics and smuggling surveillance missions. K9 Unit The Sheriff's Canine Unit includes 25 canines with various specialties, including narcotics, explosive ordnance, cadaver, and patrol. The unit's staff consists of one Sergeant, ten Deputies, five Detectives and four Detention Officers. All canines trained in narcotic detection are capable of finding and aggressively alerting on cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, heroin, and their derivatives. Collectively, they have assisted in the seizure of over 5.3 million dollars in narcotic tainted monies. All canines trained in explosive ordnance detection are trained to detect and passively alert on 13 different odors. The tobacco canine is trained to find and aggressively alert on all forms of tobacco. Patrol dogs are trained in building searches, area searches, officer protection, crowd control, trailing, and provide a strong psychological deterrent to certain types of criminal misconduct. Our cadaver canine is trained to find and passively alert on decaying human tissues, bones, and fluids. Our bloodhounds are utilized to track down suspects and locate missing or lost individuals. Canine team members typically work patrol operations during peak activity hours, usually from about 6 PM to 4 AM. They also augment SWAT operations; provide contractual services for narcotic detection at several local schools; provide narcotic and explosive ordnance detection for not only our office, but for other local, state, and federal agencies; they are on call 7 days a week 24 hours a day, and conduct over 100 public relations demonstrations annually. The utilization of police canines provides law enforcement with a non-lethal means of apprehending dangerous criminal offenders; detecting intruders and alerting handlers to their presence; pursuing, attacking and holding criminal offenders who resist apprehension; searching and clearing buildings and large open areas for criminals; tracking lost children or other persons; detecting the presence of certain narcotics, explosives, and tobacco products; locating deceased subjects, crime scenes, and minute physical evidence; and provide a strong psychological deterrent to certain types of criminal misconduct. M109 howitzer The

Arizona Army National Guard The Arizona Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau. Arizona Army National Gu ...

provided a

M109 howitzer The M109 is an American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s to replace the M44 and M52. It has been upgraded a number of times, most recently to the M109A7. The M109 family is the most common Western ...

to the sheriff's office in 1999. Demilitarized, it made outings during parades until 2017 when it was resumed by the National Guard for reasons of economy.

Posse

There is a permanent, organized Sheriff's Posse that provides civilian volunteer support to the sworn deputies of the Sheriff's Office. Dozens of individual posse units can be called upon for various needs, such as a Jeep posse, equine mounted units in various cities, a ham radio operator posse, a diver's posse, and an air posse of licensed pilots.

Contract cities

* Town of Carefree * Town of Cave Creek * Town of Fountain Hills * Town of Gila Bend * Town of Guadalupe * City of Litchfield Park * Town of Youngtown

Sheriffs

* William Hancock (1871) * Thomas Barnum (1871) * Thomas Warden (1871–72) * Thomas Hayes (acting, 1872) * Thomas Hayes (1872–74) * George Mowry (1875–80) * Lindley Orme (1881–84) * Noah Broadway (1885–86) * Andrew Halbert (1887–88) * William Thomas Gray (1889–90) * John Montgomery (1891–92) * James Murphy (1893–1905) * Lindley Orme (1895–98) * David Murray (1899–1900) * Samuel Stout (1901–02) * William Cook (1903–04) * John Elliott Walker (1905–06) * William Cunningham (acting, 1906) *

Carl Hayden Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing Arizona in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state's first Represe ...

(1907–12) – last territorial sheriff * Jefferson Davis Adams (1912–17) – first state sheriff * William Henry Wilky (1917–18) * John G. Montgomery (1919–23) * Jerry Sullivan (1923–24) * Andrew Moore (1925–26) * Jerry Sullivan (1926–28) * Jefferson Davis Adams (acting, 1928) * Charles Wright (1929–31) * James McFadden (1931–37) * Roy Merrill (1937–39) * Lon Jordan (1939–44) * Jewel Jordan (acting, 1944) – first and only female sheriff * Ernest W. "Goldie" Roach (1945–47) * Luther C. "Cal" Boies (1946–69) * John Mummert (1969–73) * Paul Blubaum (1973–77) * Jerry I. Hill (1977–85) * Richard Godbehere (1985–89) * Thomas J. Agnos (1989–93) *

(1993–2017) * Paul Penzone (2017–2024) * Russ Skinner (2024–2025) * Jerry Sheridan (January 1, 2025 – present)

Controversies and criticism

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has been involved in many controversial acts, lawsuits, and other operations that have been called into question, from alleged

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

to jail conditions. Former Maricopa County Sheriff,

, has also been criticized over a number of incidents and policies. The

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

is investigating the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in relation to alleged

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...

, as well as refusing to cooperate with a federal Justice Department investigation.

In popular culture

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is featured on TLC's television program '' Police Women of Maricopa County'' (2010).

References

External links

*
Sheriff's Posse
{{Authority control Sheriffs' offices of Arizona Government of Maricopa County, Arizona 2004 Arizona elections 1871 establishments in Arizona Territory