Proudly Serving the Citizens of Beaufort County, South Carolina

For emergencies, call 9-1-1

Proudly Serving the Citizens of Beaufort County, South Carolina

For emergencies, call 9-1-1

Enforcement Division

The Enforcement Division oversees the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office’s patrol operations; public information and crime prevention; criminal, illegal drug, gang and environmental crime investigations; special operations teams: SWAT, K-9, explosive ordnance disposal and dive; and victims advocacy.

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, please 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.

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 prisoner transport.

The Special Operations Section is staffed by deputy sheriffs who have advanced skill levels in specific fields of law enforcement.

Deputies staffing many of the Special Operations functions maintain an on-call status, responding to critical incidents as a collateral duty to their primary assignments.

Special Operations teams include Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Tracking (K-9), Dive Team, Hostage Negotiation Team and the Explosive Ordnance (Bomb) Team.
Each of these teams participates in extensive, on-going training to sharpen and maintain tactical competency for respective functions.

In addition to these critical response teams, Special Operations is also home to the Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF), Alcoholic Beverage Control, Title 19 Enforcement and the Environmental Crimes Unit. These specialized units are staffed full-time and provide investigative and enforcement roles to address targeted criminal activities.

The Public Information team is responsible for regularly updating the community on Sheriff’s Office activities through our digital and social media platforms, as well as print and broadcast media.

The Public Information Officer (PIO) serves as a spokesperson for the sheriff and the agency and is tasked with maintaining clear lines of communication with the community.