Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Palm Beach County has 39 municipalities, encompassing some 60 percent of the County population. The rest of the population live in unincorporated areas. Several municipalities have their own police departments while the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office contracts to provide law enforcement services to 13 of the 39 municipalities. The following cities contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to provide law enforcement services: Lake Park, Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee, Greenacres, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves, Mangonia Park, Westlake, Lake Worth Beach, South Palm Beach and Palm Beach Shores.

Communities served

A PBSO cruiser in West Palm Beach

Currently PBSO provides law enforcement services to four regional patrol bureaus, North, South, East and West.[4]

North Regional Bureau - North Palm Beach County

• Mangonia Park, Florida
• Lake Park, Florida
• Palm Beach Shores, Florida
• All Northern Palm Beach County Unincorporated areas

South Regional Bureau - South Palm Beach County

• Unincorportaed West Delray Beach
• Unincorporated West Boynton Beach
• Unincorporated West Boca Raton
• All Southern Palm Beach County Unincorporated Areas

East Regional Bureau - Central Palm Beach County

• Greenacres, Florida
• Lake Worth Beach, Florida
• South Palm Beach, Florida
• All Central Palm Beach County Unincorporated Areas

West Regional Bureau - Western Palm Beach County

• Wellington, Florida
• Royal Palm Beach, Florida
• South Bay, Florida
• Pahokee, Florida
• Belle Glade, Florida
• Loxahatchee Groves, Florida
• Westlake, Florida
• All Western Unincorporated Palm Beach County to include the areas known as The Acreage and Loxahatchee

There are two jail facilities operated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. One is in Belle Glade, called the West Detention Center, which houses all custody levels from minimum to maximum security. At any one time it can contain up to 991 inmates (total bed capacity), with a staff of 188. The facility has a video visitation program which allows families to communicate with inmates remotely.[5]

The largest jail is the Main Detention Center.[2] Three towers make up the center, The South Tower, The East Tower, and The West Tower.[6] The largest is The South Tower, the building was constructed in 1993 from concrete and steel with a cost of $52 million.[6] The East and West Towers were built in 1983; they now flank the South Tower, completing the Main Detention Center.[6] The Main Detention Center's primary function is to hold high risk inmates, federal inmates, and those inmates who are in need of special medical attention and/or are unable to operate at other facilities.[6] The total number of beds at the facility is 2,166. The South Tower can hold 1,285 inmates, East Tower has 418 beds, and The West Tower has 404 beds.[6]

The Communications Division at PBSO consists of over 180 employees.[7] There are three dispatch and 911 call centers that operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year taking in over a million calls annually.[7] The main dispatch 911 call center is located at the PBSO Headquarters building on Gun Club Road in unincorporated West Palm Beach. The main center covers all eastern regions and districts and is the largest center with 5 of the main talkgroups dispatched out of this location. There are also two additional dispatch 911 call centers with one located at the Main Courthouse in Downtown West Palm Beach, which covers the Main Courthouse, Downtown Palm Beach County Governmental Complex and Palm Beach International Airport. The center located in Belle Glade at the PBSO western district complex covers the far western area of Palm Beach County to include Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay and the large unincorporated farming areas.

PBSO operates a Motorola countywide radio system with 8 main talk groups and 1 inquiry talk group for running names, license plates and drivers licenses, deputies also use this talk group to request rotation tow trucks and for general information. Each talk group has a dispatch monitored channel and a talk-around channel for unit to unit communications. The agency also has numerous specialty talk groups for special operations, SWAT, Narcotics, Gangs and Fugitive Warrants. The system was converted to a Project 25 Phase II TDMA modulation system in June 2018.

Texting to 911 is also an option for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech impediment, or are in an emergency situation where voice call is not possible.[7]

The Domestic Violence Unit consists of a sergeant, two detectives and 5 domestic violence advocates.[8] The advocates are trained to help and assist victims of domestic violence filing the petition and be with them throughout the legal process as support consultants.[8]

Captain James Stormes (left) of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office maps out traffic patterns to help facilitate distribution of ice and water to residents affected by Hurricane Frances at the South Florida Fairgrounds distribution center (2004)

The Sheriff's Office is composed of roughly 4,200 employees, including approximately 1,600 sworn law enforcement personnel, 700 sworn corrections personnel, 1,900 civilian personnel and 1,800 volunteers.[9] The annual operating budget for the PBSO is approximately $740,000,000. Ric L. Bradshaw has been sheriff for Palm Beach County since January 2005, and has served over 45 years in law enforcement.[10]

Rank structure

Title	Insignia
Sheriff
Chief Deputy
Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Corporal
Detective
Deputy

One of three Bell 429 helicopters in operation at PBSO.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

• Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office website
• The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Foundation website