Monroe County Sheriff's Office (New York)
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) provides law enforcement for Monroe County which is located in Western New York State. The sheriff's office's constitutional authority is to operate the county jail and provide a civil function. However, as with most counties in N.Y., the MCSO also provides a wide range of police services as well and provides physical and operational security to the courts (City, County, Family and State).
| Monroe County Sheriff's Office | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | MCSO |
| Motto | "One Team" |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1821 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Monroe, New York, USA |
 | |
| Map of Monroe County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 1,366 square miles (3,540 km2) |
| Population | 735,343 (2000) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 130 S. Plymouth Ave. Rochester, New York |
| Agency executive |
|
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 6 |
| Jails | 2 |
| Police Boats | 3 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Organization
The MCSO is led by the Sheriff who is elected by the residents of Monroe County and serves a 4-year term. The Sheriff is considered the highest police official in the county. The second-in-command is the Undersheriff who is appointed by the Sheriff and is in charge in the Sheriff's absence. The third highest-ranking member of the department is the Chief Deputy. Currently the Sheriff is Sheriff Todd K. Baxter, the Undersheriff is Undersheriff Korey Brown, and the Chief Deputy is Chief Deputy Michael Fowler.
By New York State Constitution, the Sheriff is the Warden of the county jail. The Jail Bureau is the largest component of the Sheriff's Office, overseeing an inmate population of around 1,000.
The Sheriff's Office operates a large road patrol force which patrols the towns within Monroe County that do not have their own police patrols, although the MCSO has jurisdiction throughout the county. The Sheriff's Office is also responsible for primary police patrols at the Greater Rochester International Airport as well as the many parks throughout the county. Deputies assigned to the Marine Unit patrol the coastline of Lake Ontario as well as Irondequoit Bay. The Police Bureau also features a mounted unit, as well as a traffic enforcement unit. Specialized units consist of Bomb Squad, SWAT, Hostage Recovery, SCUBA, Technical Services (Crime Scene), and K9.
The other major unit of the Police Bureau is the Criminal Investigation Section which investigates all major crimes responded to by Sheriff's deputies as well as assisting other area law enforcement agencies.
The Court Security Bureau provides security at the Hall of Justice as well as at the State Appellate Court building.
In 2011, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office was named the 2011 Public Safety Uniform Award in the County Sheriff's/Police Department category by the North American Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors (NAUMD).
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Zones
The county is divided into the following 3 zones:
| Zone | Communities |
|---|---|
| A | East Rochester, Fairport, Irondequoit, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Webster |
| B | Brighton, Henrietta, Honeoye Falls, Rush, Mendon, Scottsville, Wheatland |
| C | Brockport, Chili, Churchville, Clarkson, Gates, Greece, Hamlin, Hilton, Ogden, Parma, Riga, Spencerport, Sweden |
Other Stations
Special Operations
- Parks Patrol
- Marine Unit
- Horse Mounted Patrol
- Traffic Enforcement/Tactical Unit
- SWAT
- Community Services to include DARE
- K-9
- Bomb Squad
- Hostage Recovery Team
- Scuba
- ATV, Bike and Snowmobile
Airport Security Unit
- All Police Services at the Greater Rochester International Airport
Headquarters
- Administrative/Staff Services:
- Training Unit - Recruitment - Standards and Compliance - Property & Evidence - Fleet - Quartermaster - Records Unit - Historian
- Criminal Investigations
- Internal Affairs
History
Formed in 1821 with the creation of Monroe County (so named in honor of James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States), the new County was carved from Ontario and Genesee Counties with Rochester named as the County seat. The Sheriff of Monroe County in his duties as the enforcement arm of the Courts, carried out a total of seven executions by hanging before NYS took over Capital Punishment in 1888. Although carried out of the public view, they were such an event that the Militia had to be called out for crowd control. Over these many decades, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) has become one of the premier law enforcement and corrections agencies in the State of New York and of the Nation. The MCSO is both accredited by the State of New York and nationally by CALEA. For more information on the history of the MCSO, copies of The History of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office are available for sale for $10.00 plus $2.50 shipping (all proceeds benefit the Sheriff's Awards Program). Contact: Historian Todd Allen, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, 130 Plymouth Ave., South, Rochester, New York 14614.
| Name | Tenure | Name | Tenure | Name | Tenure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Seymour | 1821–1822 1826–1828 | Isaac H. Sutherland | 1869 | Charles S. Owen | January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1917 | ||
| John T. Patterson | 1823–1825 | Joseph B. Campbell | 1870–1872 | Andrew Wiedenmann | January 1, 1918 – December 31, 1920 | ||
| James K. Livingston | 1829–1831 | Charles S. Campbell | 1873–1875 | Frederick S. Couchman | January 1, 1921 – November 17, 1921 | ||
| Ezra M. Parsons | 1832–1835 | Henry E. Richmond | 1876–1878 | Henry W. Morse | November 18, 1921 – December 31, 1923 | ||
| Elias Pond | 1836–1837 | James K. Burlingame | 1879–1881 | Franklin W. Judson | January 1, 1924 – December 31, 1925 | ||
| Darius Perrin | 1838–1840 | Francis A. Schoeffel | 1882–1884 | Albert H. Baker | January 1, 1926 – December 31, 1928 | ||
| Charles L. Pardee | 1841–1843 | John W. Hannan | 1885–1887 1894–1896 | Fred D. Budd | January 1, 1929 – December 31, 1931 | ||
| Hiram Sibley | 1844–1846 | Thomas C. Hodgson | 1888–1890 | William C. Stallknecht | January 1, 1932 – December 31, 1934 | ||
| George Hart | 1847–1849 | Burton H. Davy | 1891–1893 | James E. Malley | January 1, 1935 – December 31, 1937 | ||
| Octavius P. Chamberlain | 1850–1852 | John U. Schroth | 1897–1899 | Albert W. Skinner | January 1, 1938 – December 31, 1973 | ||
| Chauncey B. Woodworth | 1853–1855 | Thomas W. Ford | 1900–1902 | William F. Lombard | January 1, 1974 – December 31, 1979 | ||
| Alexander Babcock | 1856–1858 | Charles H. Bailey | 1903–1905 | Andrew P. Meloni | January 1, 1980 – May 2001 | ||
| Hiram Smith | 1859–1861 | William H. Craig | 1906 – December 31, 1908 | Patrick M. O'Flynn | May 2001 – December 31, 2017 | ||
| James H. Warren | 1862–1864 | Willis K. Gillette | January 1, 1909 – December 31, 1911 | Todd Baxter | January 1, 2018 – present | ||
| Alonzo Chapman | 1865–1867 | Harley E. Hamil | January 1, 1912 – March 11, 1914 | ||||
| Caleb Moore | 1868 | George R. Brown | March 12, 1914 – December 31, 1914 |
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Monroe County Sheriff Office, 8 officers have died in the line of duty.[1]
| Officer | Date of Death | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Simon J. Bermingham | Wednesday, January 10, 1912 |
Gunfire |
| Deputy William Marshall | Wednesday, April 3, 1946 |
Automobile accident |
| Deputy John Pullano | Thursday, May 16, 1957 |
Motorcycle accident |
| Undersheriff George A. Conway | Monday, September 13, 1965 |
Automobile accident |
| Deputy Frank E. Dombrowski | Friday, February 6, 1970 |
Automobile accident |
| Sergeant Robert M. (Whitey) Skelton Jr. | Friday, June 23, 1972 |
Vehicular assault |
| Sergeant Peter J. Rotolo | Friday, September 20, 1974 |
Heart attack |
| Corporal Catherine M. Crawford | Sunday, March 5, 1995 |
Assault |
See also
- List of law enforcement agencies in New York
- Rochester Police Department