Suffolk County Sheriff's Department

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is a law enforcement agency for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The agency's primary responsibility is oversight of the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction in Boston, Massachusetts.

For the Suffolk County, New York law enforcement agency, see Suffolk County Sheriff's Office.

Suffolk County Sheriff's Department
Abbreviation	SCSD
Agency overview
Employees	1,051
Annual budget	$122 Million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
Population	732,864
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts
Deputy Sheriff/Correction Officers	800
Unsworn members	Civilian
Sheriff responsible	Steven W. Tompkins
Facilities
Lockups	2
Patrol Vehicles	Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
K-9 Units	6
Website
Suffolk County Sheriff's Department website

South Bay House of Correction

This facility was built in 1991 at a cost of $115 million to replace the antiquated jail on Deer Island. The HOC was designed to hold up to 900 prisoners at one time, but it currently houses upwards of 1,900 at any given time. There are 674 cells and 32 different housing units at this modern facility.

Nashua Street Jail

Main article: Nashua Street Jail

This facility was built in 1990 to replace the historic Charles Street Jail which operated from 1851 to 1991. This facility houses almost 744 pre-trial detainees in 13 different housing units. The jail has 453 cells containing 654 individual beds. The entire facility is maximum security.

Correction Officer Training Academy

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department has a 12-week training academy for recruits to become corrections officers. Specific topics covered include: the use of force, firearm safety and handling, suicide prevention, courtroom testimony, ethics and professionalism, inmate education, fire safety, CPR and first aid, report writing, and interpersonal communication, among other topics. Recruits are also given physical training and are taught multiple defensive tactics.

The Training Facility is located in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Honor Guard Unit

The Honor Guard unit is frequently requested by various organizations to appear throughout Suffolk County and beyond to display the Colors for community functions, funerals, parades, and events.

K-9 Unit

The Sheriff's Department currently has four K-9 teams. Two of the K-9s are German Shepherds that are cross-trained in patrol and narcotics detection and the two other dogs are Labradors that are trained in narcotics detection. These teams provide additional security and search for narcotics inside the House of Correction and Nashua Street Jail as well as assist other law enforcement agencies in searching for narcotics, fleeing felons, or lost children.

List of sheriffs

#	Sheriff	Term	Party	Note
1st	Samuel Gookin	1692–1702
2nd	Giles Dyer	1702–1713
3rd	William Dudley	1713–1714
4th	William Payne	1714–1714
	William Dudley	1714–1715
	William Payne	1715–1728
5th	Edward Winslow	1728–1743
6th	Benjamin Pollard	1743–1757
7th	Stephen Greenleaf	1757–1775		Final colonial sheriff
8th	William Greenleaf	1775–1780		First sheriff following American independence Brother of Stephen Greenleaf
9th	Joseph Henderson	1780–1791
10th	Jeremiah Allen	1791–1809
11th	Samuel Bradford	1809–1818
12th	Joseph Hall	1818–1825		Appointed Judge of Probate
13th	Charles Pinckney Sumner	1825–1839		Father of Charles Sumner
14th	Joseph Eveleth	1839–1852
15th	Henry Crocker	1852–1853
	Joseph Eveleth	1853–1857
16th	John M. Clark	1857–1883		First elected sheriff
17th	John B. O’Brien	1883–1905	Democratic
18th	Fred H. Seavey	1905–1912	Democratic	Died in office.
19th	John Quinn	1915–1917	Democratic	Died in office
20th	John A. Keliher	1917–1938	Democratic	Died in office
21st	John F. Dowd	1938–1939	Democratic	Resigned while under investigation. Convicted of bribery after spending two years as a fugitive.
22nd	Frederick R. Sullivan	1939–1968	Democratic	Died in office James J. Mellen served as acting sheriff while Sullivan was serving in the U.S. Army (1943–1946)
23rd	John W. Sears	1968–1969	Republican
24th	Thomas S. Eisenstadt	1969–1977	Democratic
25th	Dennis J. Kearney	1977–1987	Democratic
26th	Robert Rufo	1987–1996	Democratic	Appointed Associate Justice of the Suffolk District Court
27th	Richard J. Rouse	1996–2002	Democratic	Retired
28th	Andrea Cabral	2002–2013	Democratic	Appointed Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety
29th	Steven Tompkins	2013–present	Democratic

[1]

Officer Deaths

• April 11, 1997- Deputy Joseph Freedman suffered a fatal heart attack while distributing food carts at the South Bay House of Correction.[2]

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts

References

1. "History of Sheriffs". Suffolk County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
2. "Deputy Sheriff Joseph A. Freedman". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). Retrieved 2020-05-20.

External links

• Suffolk County Sheriff's Department website