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Lake County Sheriff's Department
Agency overview
Formed	1837
Employees	494
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Lake County, Indiana, United States
Map of Lake County Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction
Size	Total 627 sq mi (1,623 km²) - Land 499 sq mi (1,292 km²) - Water 128 sq mi (330 km²)
Population	496,005 (2010)
Legal jurisdiction	Lake County, Indiana
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	2293 North Main Street Crown Point, Indiana
Merit officers	168 (police officers) 170 (corrections officers)
Civilians	156
Agency executives	Dennis Matthew Eaton, Acting Sheriff Dennis Matthew Eaton, Chief of Police Daniel P. Murchek, Deputy Chief of Police
Facilities
Police Boats	7
Helicopters	3
Website
Lake County Sheriff's Website

The Lake County Sheriff's Department is the county law enforcement agency for Lake County, Indiana. The first sheriff was elected in 1837, when Lake County was organized.

Office of the Sheriff

John A. Buncich, sworn into office on January 1, 2015, was the 49th sheriff of Lake County and was in his fourth term. He had previously held the office for two terms from 1995–2002. On August 24, 2017, Buncich was found guilty on six counts of wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and bribery by a jury in U.S. District Court in Hammond. State law requires that any public officer convicted of a felony during the their term of office shall be removed from office immediately.

Organization

The Lake County Sheriff's Department employs 168 sworn police officers, 170 sworn corrections officers and 156 civilians under the sheriff's direction.

The command staff includes a chief of police and four commanders, each responsible for a division, who are assisted by deputy commanders. The Corrections Division is led by a chief warden, an assistant warden and three deputy wardens.

• Staff Services Division consists of the Bureau of Information, Bookkeeping, Human Resources, Property/Evidence Management, Telecommunications, Training and Vehicle Maintenance Operations.
• Civil Division is charged with serving summons, subpoenas, evictions and writs of the Lake County Superior and Circuit courts as well as from other jurisdictions.
• Corrections Division operates the Lake County Jail and administers the Work Release Program designed as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. The modern Lake County Jail opened in 1975 in a five-floor facility with 286 beds. In 1991, capacity was increased to 460 beds and additions in 2000 provided for a total of 1,085 beds. A Special Operations Response Team (SORT) is utilized in controlling inmate disturbances and restoring order in emergency situations.
• Criminal Investigations Division comprises the General Assignment, Auto Theft and Warrant units as well as the Crime Laboratory and officers assigned to multi-jurisdictional task forces.
• Uniform Division primarily provides police service to the unincorporated areas of the county and in the town of Winfield which does not have an established police department. This division also maintains an organized Bicycle Unit as well as a Traffic Unit which utilizes both patrol vehicles and motorcycles for enforcement and has trained accident reconstructionists. The Court Security Unit provides security at all county courts located at the Lake County Government Center and at facilities in East Chicago, Gary and Hammond.

The department also has a number of Special Operations Units with specifically trained personnel assigned for Aquatics Underwater Recovery and Rescue, Aviation, Bomb Squad, Chaplains, K-9, Marine, Tactical (SWAT) and a mobile communications Command Center.

Aircraft

The Lake County Sheriff's Department has three helicopters used for law enforcement in the county and for assistance to local police agencies. They are maintained by the Aviation Unit and are operated from the Griffith-Merrillville Airport in Griffith, Indiana.

According to FAA records, the helicopters currently registered to the agency include a Bell OH-58A N512LC, a Bell OH-58A N513LC and a Eurocopter EC120B N516RD.

Demographics

Fallen officers

In the history of the Lake County Sheriff's Department, six officers have been killed in the line of duty.

See also

• Lake County, Indiana
• List of law enforcement agencies in Indiana
• Sheriff

References

1. Bill Dolan (August 24, 2017). "Lake County Sheriff guilty of bribery, other crimes. What happens now?". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
2. Carrie Napoleon (May 31, 2017). "Buncich names Eaton to chief of police post". Post-Tribune. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
3. Bill Dolan (August 24, 2017). "Sheriff John Buncich guilty; U.S. Attorney keeps perfect record on public corruption cases". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
4. ^ History of the Lake County Sheriff's Department
5. Command Staff of the Lake County Sheriff's Department
6. Administrative Services Division overview
7. Civil Division overview
8. Corrections Division overview
9. Criminal Investigations Division overview
10. Uniform Division overview
11. Special Operations Units overview
12. "FAA Registry (N512LC)". Federal Aviation Administration.
13. "FAA Registry (N513LC)". Federal Aviation Administration.
14. "FAA Registry (N516RD)". Federal Aviation Administration.
15. Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
16. The Officer Down Memorial Page

External links

• Lake County Sheriff's Department
• Lake County Government
• Indiana State Police

• Lake County, Indiana
• Sheriffs' departments of Indiana
• 1837 establishments in Indiana