Alachua County Sheriff's Office

Office of Professional Standards

Keith Vermillion
Chief Inspector
(352) 384-3050
kvermillion@alachuasheriff.org

The Chief Inspector is in charge of the Office of Professional Standards and reports directly to the Sheriff. The Office of Professional Standards performs the following functions:

• Internal Affairs
• Staff Inspections/Audits

Citizen Comments/Concerns

Citizens Comment Form - The form can be viewed in Acrobat Reader and then printed.

It is essential that the citizens of Alachua County have confidence in their Sheriff's Office and the administration which supervises the exercise of police authority. This mandates that procedures for investigating and resolving all concerns and allegations of misconduct be instituted.

Although citizen comments are frequently based upon misunderstandings of the law or established law enforcement procedures, they are of great concern and can lead to a mistrust of law enforcement if not investigated or explained. All citizens are encouraged to bring forward legitimate comments, concerns, commendations and/or grievances regarding ACSO employees.

Internal Affairs

One function of this Office is to provide fact-finding assistance to the Sheriff and her staff by providing a systematic, objective and impartial method of investigating concerns regarding employee misconduct.

Inspectors assigned the Internal Affairs function are responsible for conducting Administrative Inquiries arising from employee misconduct or lack of performance, criminal investigations, use of deadly force incidents, and any matter as directed by the Sheriff.

Complaints may be received by any ACSO employee. All complaints received against the ACSO or any employee will be documented, investigated and resolved by established procedures.

Investigation Findings

When the investigation or inquiry is completed, the employee in charge of the investigation shall classify his/her findings as follows:

• Unfounded - The act or acts complained of did not occur or did not involve ACSO personnel.
• Not-sustained - Insufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation/complaint.
• Sustained - The preponderance of evidence clearly proves the allegation/complaint.
• Exonerated - The act or acts did occur, but were justified, lawful and proper.
• Exonerated due to policy failure - A finding or conclusion that present policy, procedure, rule or regulation covering the situation was non-existent or inadequate

Staff Inspections

The function of Staff Inspections is to provide fact finding assistance to the Sheriff. Staff Inspections should provide a systematic, objective review of office facilities, equipment, personnel administration, and operational activities outside the normal supervisory and line inspection procedures. The primary purpose of Staff Inspections is to ensure sound operating procedures within the Sheriff's Office are being followed, to detect and correct deficiencies, and recommend new and improved methods or procedures.