Allegheny County Sheriff's Office
The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office is a law enforcement agency that serves Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and is the largest sheriff's office in the state. The ACSO serves as a local arm of the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System in a number of roles, including: court security, writ services, sales, prisoner transportation, issuing of firearm licenses and execution of warrants. A primary responsibility of the office is fugitive apprehension.
Organization
The executive of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office is the Sheriff, currently William P. Mullen, and is an elected position. The office consists of a number of divisions.- Administration – The Administration Division is responsible for personnel and fiscal management, scheduling and coordinating law enforcement training, information technology management and the purchase and maintenance of property.
- Investigations – The Investigations Division is primarily responsible for executing criminal warrants, as well as investigating threats to members and personnel of the judiciary.
- Civil Process – The Civil Process Division is responsible for processing and docketing civil court documents such as divorces, execution against real and personal property, orders of court and miscellaneous writs such as those filed by respondents and for transportation of prisoners.
- Firearms – The Firearms Division is responsible for issuing licenses to sell or conceal-carry firearms in accordance with the Uniform Firearms Act.
- Uniform – The Uniform Division is primarily responsible for crowd control services carnivals, festivals, parades and other special events, as well as security and traffic control as directed. It consists of
- Transportation – The Transportation Division is primarily responsible for transporting prisoners to and from prisons, courts, inquests and hospitals, transferring prisoners to house arrest and courtroom security, as well as assisting in the coordination all prisoner extraditions from other states and jurisdictions.
The Sheriff's Office also has a number of deputies assigned unique positions such as Evidence Management and Crime Prevention. It maintains a Canine Unit consisting of two dual-purpose bomb dogs, one dual-purpose drug dog and one single purpose tracking dog. This unit operates with no budget allocation and is funded by public donations.
The Sheriff's Reserve consists of two elements, the Uniform Division and the General Reserve. The Uniform Division is primarily responsible for crowd control services carnivals, festivals, parades and other special events, as well as security and traffic control as directed. Deputies are sworn, carry firearms and complete an educational program including Act 235 lethal weapons training. The Uniform Division also includes a Motorcycle Unit. Each motorcycle is owned and maintained by the deputy at personal cost. The General Reserve Division consists of volunteers interested in community service. These members are not sworn and do not have powers of arrest, but support the Sheriff in community engagement.
History
Past sheriffs
The first sheriff to be elected in Allegheny County was James Morrison, who took office in January 1789, soon after the United States gained independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War.- James Morrison – 1789–1792
- Samuel Ewalt – 1792–1795
- James Sample – 1795–1798
- Ephraim Jones – 1798–1801
- William Wusthoff – 1804–1809
- William McCandless – 1804–1809
- William Woods – 1809–1810
- Lazarus Stewart – 1816–1819
- Morgan Neville – 1819–1822
- Lazarus Stewart – 1822–1825
- William Leckey – 1825–1828
- W. Caven – 1828–1831
- William Leckey – 1831–1834
- Elijah Trovillo – 1834–1837
- Andrew Bayne – 1837–1840
- Benjamin Weaver – 1840–1843
- Elijah Trovillo – 1843–1846
- John Forsyth – 1846–1850
- Carter Curtis – 1850–1852
- William Magill – 1852–1856
- Rody Patterson – 1856–1857
- James L. Grahm – 1857–1861
- Harry Woods – 1861–1863
- John H. Stewart – 1864–1867
- Samuel Cluley – 1867–1870
- H.S. Fleming – 1870–1873
- John H. Hare – 1873–1875
- Richard H. Fife – 1876–1878
- T.H. Hunter – 1879–1882
- William McCallin – 1882–1884
- Joseph H. Gray – 1884–1888
- A. McCandless – 1888–1890
- William H. McCleary – 1890–1894
- James F. Richards – 1894–1896
- Harvey A. Lowry – 1896–1900
- William C. McKinley – 1900–1904
- James W. Dickson – 1904–1906
- Addison Gumbert – 1906–1910
- Judd H. Bruff – 1910–1914
- George Richards – 1914–1918
- William S. Haddock – 1918–1922
- Robert Woodside – 1922–1926
- Robert H. Braun – 1926–1930
- Robert S. Cain – 12/1930-1/1932
- Frank I. Gollmar – 1932–1938
- H. J. Heinz II – 1938–1942
- Robert J. Corbett – 1942–1944
- John Montgomery – 1944–1945
- Walter C. Monaghan – 1946–1951
- William D. McClelland – 1951
- Thomas E. Whitten December 28, 1951 – 1954
- William H. Davis 1954–1970
- Eugene L. Coon 1970–1997
- Peter DeFazio 1997–2006
- William P. Mullen 2006–present
Controversies
In May 2018 Deputy Donald Modrick was charged with theft, unsworn falsification and obstructing the administration of law after stealing $10,000 from a defendant. Modrick allegedly collected money without following any procedure and had checks written out in his name, which he then cashed for personal use. He was terminated by the Sheriff's Office.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the office, seven members have died in the line of duty.| Officer | Date of Death | Details |
| Deputy Sheriff Pliny D. Wells | Wednesday, June 20, 1838 | Stabbed |
| Deputy Sheriff Harry H. Exley | Sunday, August 22, 1909 | Gunfire |
| Deputy Sheriff J. Davis | Tuesday, January 28, 1913 | Stabbed |
| Deputy Sheriff Frank X. Mooney | Saturday, May 19, 1923 | Gunfire |
| Deputy Sheriff Meyer Van Lewen | Saturday, July 19, 1924 | Gunfire |
| Deputy Sheriff Edward M. Butko, Jr. | Thursday, September 29, 1983 | Vehicle crash |
| Sergeant James Robert Milcarek, Sr. | Friday, November 18, 1983 | Vehicle crash |