The Sheriff’s Office’s two criminal investigations sections — Northern and Southern — are responsible for the investigation of crimes committed in unincorporated Beaufort County.

The Northern Criminal Investigations section is responsible to investigate crimes that occur north of the Broad River Bridge, while the Southern Criminal Investigation Section handles cases that occur south of the Broad River Bridge.

The types of crimes investigated by the two sections include homicides, sexual assaults, burglaries, financial crimes, internet crimes and other crimes against persons and property.

For a more in-depth look at the Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations sections, click HERE.

Patrol operations are separated into two branches defined by the geography of Beaufort County. The Broad River Bridge divides Beaufort County into two sectors, each patrolled by the Northern and Southern Enforcement branches respectively.

Patrol operations for both Northern and Southern branches are organized into four teams. Patrol deputies work 12-hour shifts, rotating monthly between night and day hours. These teams are also separated into patrol areas in their respective branches.

In addition to responding to an average of more than 280,000 calls for service annually, deputies conduct approximately 16,000 traffic stops each year. Among the other duties commonly performed by patrol deputies are community relations, proactive business and residential patrol, accident investigation, crime prevention and more.

The Special Operations Section is staffed by Sheriff’s Office deputies, as well as officers of area police departments, who have advanced skill levels in specific fields of law enforcement.

Those who are a member of a specialized team or unit within Special Operations Section maintain an on-call status, responding to critical incidents as a collateral duty to their primary assignments.

Special Operations teams and units include:

• Bloodhound Tracking Team
• Crime Scene Unit
• Crisis Negotiation Team
• Dive Team
• Drone Team
• Environmental Crimes
• Explosive Ordinance Unit
• K-9 Units
• Marine Patrol
• Sex Offender Registry
• Special Enforcement Unit
• SWAT
• Title 19
• Victim’s Advocacy
• Violent Crimes Task Force