Escambia County Sheriff's Office (Florida)


The Escambia County Sheriff's Office or Escambia Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency of unincorporated Escambia County and the town of Century. ECSO is headed by a sheriff, who serves a four-year term and is elected in a partisan election. The current sheriff is David Morgan.

Department Structure

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is headed by a Sheriff. Currently, the Sheriff is David Morgan who replaced former Sheriff Ron McNesby in 2009.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is composed of one Bureau:
The rank of Deputy Chief is the second-highest rank in the Sheriff's Office, reporting directly to the Sheriff. Each Deputy Chief serves as a member of the Senior Command staff and assists the Sheriff in managing civilian and commissioned personnel.
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 title 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.
On 23 August 1877, the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin was arrested by Escambia County Sheriff William H. Hutchinson working with Texas Rangers Lt. John B. Armstrong and Jack R. Duncan, accompanied by nine Escambia County sheriff 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. Marshall'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.

List of sheriffs

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