Sheriff briefs commissioners on staffing, SRO incidents and federal-agency partnerships; explains ICE detainer process

The Union County Sheriff’s Office provided an operational briefing to commissioners on Feb. 18 covering patrol vehicles, staffing, town contracts, specialized units, school resource officer (SRO) incident reporting and federal law-enforcement partnerships.

In presentation remarks, the sheriff said patrol vehicles function as deputies’ mobile offices and the agency has shifted from older police-package vehicles to pickup trucks and SUVs to accommodate equipment. The department listed about 373 total funded positions (including part-time) across seven divisions and two chief deputies; staff noted some positions are part-time. The Indian Trail town contract was described as the largest, with 36 total employees paid under that contract and a growing cost as the town expands.

Special units and partnerships: the sheriff described a SAFE unit (one sergeant and five deputies) focused on impaired drivers and a repurposed warrant-squad labeled the Shield unit (one sergeant and five deputies), with one of the Shield deputies assigned full time as a task force officer to the United States Marshals Service. The sheriff also noted task force relationships with the ATF and, historically, with the FBI.

ICE and federal partnerships: in response to a commissioner question about working with federal agencies, the sheriff said the office has longstanding partnerships across federal law-enforcement agencies. He said the sheriff’s office does not proactively search for undocumented people or accompany ICE to seek them out. The sheriff described the booking process: everyone booked into the jail is fingerprinted; those prints are checked by the SBI, FBI and ICE. If ICE identifies a border nexus and requests a detainer, the sheriff said the county will honor that detainer and hold the individual for up to 48 hours after the person meets conditions of release for the underlying charge, to permit ICE to take custody.

SRO incident reporting: the sheriff explained that incidents reported by school resource officers and school safety staff are largely incident reports and do not mean an alleged crime was proven or charged. He said a large portion of school incident reports do not become criminal prosecutions and that many reports are prompted by student social-media tips to the “See Something Say Something” app. The sheriff said the office treats every report seriously and initiates investigations where necessary.

Public and board reaction: commissioners asked for clarification about which school systems are included in the SRO data; the sheriff said the data covered K–12 Union County Public Schools (not charter or private schools) and that incidents at schools served by municipal police (for example Union Academy) would be handled by the relevant municipal department. Several commissioners thanked the sheriff and asked staff to return with the sheriff’s office representatives for further budget or staffing discussion.