Alachua County Sheriff's Office

Operational Support

Lieutenant David Clark, Executive Officer
(352) 367-4115
dclark@alachuasheriff.org

The Operational Support Bureau is the ‘right arm’ that assists the ‘backbone’ of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Uniform Patrol Division, running straight and true and provides several support functions and supplements for the Patrol Division. The Bureau has many functions and has several personnel and units in it’s charge, namely:

• Lieutenant/Executive Officer
• Administrative Sergeant
• Joint Aviation Unit
• Reserve Unit
• Extra Duty Coordinator
• Telserve Unit
• Crowd Management Team
• Special Operations Bureau
• Honor Guard
• Rural Services Unit
• SWAT
• Bomb Team
• Marine Operations
• Underwater Recovery Team
• Negotiations Response Team
• Patrol Bureaus
• K-9 Unit
• Honor Guard

Administrative Coordination for:
Special Operations Bureau - Patrol Bureaus

The Operations Support Bureau assists the other Bureaus in the Uniform Patrol Division. The Bureau has many operational functions and monitors the progression of new deputies while they are in the Field Training Program. The Bureau Commander acts as a coordinator for the Special Teams. The bureau and unit personnel include:

The Lieutenant/Executive Officer assists in the overall operational readiness, fiscal management and staffing requirements of the Uniform Patrol Division. This Lieutenant is responsible for over-sight of all Special Teams and Special Units as directed by the Division Commander. The duties and responsibilities of this position include preparing and coordinating all administrative reports from the various patrol bureaus, the agency's participation in, emergency preparedness training, emergency operations in the EOC, patrol budget preparation, input and approval of requisitions, other equipment procurement and tracking, complaint intake, coordination of patrol meetings, functions and training, and special projects.

The Administrative Sergeant reports to the Executive Officer and assists the Operations Support Bureau and the Uniform Patrol Division by coordinating the Field Training Deputy program, coordinating the training and placement of Deputy Trainees, direct involvement in various projects and programs (laptops in patrol vehicles, Computer Aided Dispatch system selection committee, sergeant promotional process Subject Matter Expert, etc.). This Sergeant is also directly involved in many other projects that are assigned to the Uniform Patrol Division, emergency preparedness training, emergency operations in the EOC and patrol budget preparation.

The Administrative Sergeant is directly responsible for and supervises the Extra Duty Coordinator, the Teleserve Unit, deputies on temporary restricted duty, the Reserve Unit, and the Rural Services Unit.

The Joint Aviation Unit The Joint Aviation Unit (JAU) is a joint cooperative effort between the Alachua County Sheriff's Office and Gainesville Police Department, which operates under the authority of the Sheriff of Alachua County. The Aviation Unit provides a valuable resource to all emergency response agencies within Alachua County and surrounding counties. We have a full time Pilot, a Tactical Flight Officer (observer), along with back-up pilots, back-up TFO's, and a Maintenance Technician.

The Extra Duty Coordinator fields requests for the law enforcement and security services of deputies for private functions that are beyond the scope of the normal on duty function. Through a set process, the coordinator determines the overall staffing requirements, processes the initial paperwork on the assignment, including operational details, and schedules all requests for extra duty deputies throughout the county.

The Teleserve Unit assists citizens with non-emergency reporting of crimes and incidents, increasing the availability of patrol units for priority calls and responses. Teleserve Unit personnel also assist in providing data entry and research for compiling information for special reports and other projects relating to law enforcement services provided to the citizens of Alachua County.

The Reserve Unit is comprised of citizen volunteers who are fully certified as Deputy Sheriff's by the State of Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, and the Sheriff of Alachua County. They assist the agency by volunteering their time to supplement all aspects of patrol operations. These volunteers are required to provide a minimum of twelve (12) hours of service per month. Their duties include patrolling zones, working with the various units and bureaus within the Uniform Patrol Division, working special details as needed, and assisting other divisions and sections within the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.

The Rural Services Unit is responsible for farm and agricultural related crimes. The unit partners with the ranchers and farmers to deter associated crimes which have a negative impact on the ranching and farming community. The unit provides a variety of community service assistance by conducting increased patrols, community speaking engagements, crime watch programs, and investigating animal abuse and cruelty cases.

The Canine Unit consists of specially trained Deputy Sheriff's partnered with dogs trained to conduct a variety of tasks, which include: apprehension of suspects, tracking of criminals and lost persons, article searches, narcotics detection, explosives detection and cadaver searches.