Orange County Sheriff's Office (Florida)

History

The first sheriff of Orange County dates from the earliest days of Florida's statehood in 1845. On January 31, 1845, the area known as Mosquito County in Territorial Florida was renamed Orange County, a name reflective of the spreading blanket of orange groves throughout the region. Less than six weeks later, on March 3, 1845, Florida's status as a territory was changed to that of statehood. The first statewide election was conducted on May 26, 1845. William Henry Williams was elected to serve as Orange County's first sheriff.

Since 1845, numerous prominent individuals have held the position of the Orange County sheriff, including David William Mizell. Mizell was the only sheriff killed in the line of duty. There have been numerous theories and tales regarding the story which led to his demise, ranging from the local tradition of the Barber–Mizell feud to Reconstruction politics to a lawman simply attempting to do his additional duty of levying fines and collecting taxes.

In 2000, during a hostage standoff in Orlando, a SWAT team sniper accidentally shot a hostage instead of the hostage-taker. The city and the OCSO settled with the hostage's family for $3.9 million dollars, with OCSO paying $1.9 million.

In 2004, state senator Gary Siplin stated that the OCSO routinely used deadly force against unarmed African Americans.

Together with the Orlando Police Department, the OCSO responded to the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.

Notable people

• Sandy Adams, investigator, later member of the Florida House of Representatives (2002–2010) and US House (2011–2013)
• Kevin Beary, sheriff (1993–2009)
• Jerry Demings, sheriff (2009–2018)

Rank structure

The order of rank for the agency is as follows:

Sworn ranks

• Sheriff
• Undersheriff
• Bureau chief deputy (bureau commander)
• Major (division commander)
• Captain (section/sector commander)
• Lieutenant
• Sergeant
• Corporal
• Deputy sheriff first class
  • Master deputy
  • Detective
  • Agent
• Deputy sheriff
  • Detective
  • Agent
  • Trainee
• Court security deputy
• Reserve deputy
• Auxiliary deputy

List of sheriffs

| Sheriff (informal) | The Honorable (formal) List of Orange County sheriffs:

• Walter Gallagher
• Kevin Beary
• Jerry Demings
• John Mina

Notes

References

1. "Orange County Sheriff's Office > Office of the Sheriff > History of OCSO".
2. (2001-06-23). "SWAT team error costs city, sheriff $3.9-million".
3. (2001-07-15). "ERRORS CITED IN HOSTAGE DEATH".
4. (2004-05-23). "DEADLY BUT LEGAL".
5. (2016-06-12). "Timeline of Orlando nightclub shooting".
6. https://public.powerdms.com/ORCSO/documents/301278