NCJ Number
172965
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 21 Issue: 10 Dated: October 1997 Pages: 54-57
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Office has approximately 300 deputies on uniformed patrol in 4 districts covering an area of more than 9,000 square miles.
Abstract
Deputies work as 1-person patrol units on 3 shifts of 12 hours each, plus an additional 8-hour day every other week. Deputies have semiautomatic handguns and are also allowed to have backup weapons. Their body armor allowance is $350. They carry pepper spray and expandable batons. The agency has a SWAT team, K-9 operations, an Aviation Enforcement Unit, water operations at the Salt River and the county's large lakes, and a posse of more than 2,500 people. The jail has more than 6,600 inmates at any time. More than 1,000 detention officers operate 11 separate detention facilities. A relatively unique feature of the agency is its commitment to tend jails. The tend compound houses more than 1,200 sentenced male and female offenders in surplus military tents. Photographs and chart presenting summary statistics