Enforcement Division

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office Enforcement Division consist of Uniform Patrol, Investigations Unit, Narcotics/Organized Crime Bureau(OCB), Intensified Crime Enforcement Unit (ICE), Community Oriented Policing(C.O.P.S.), School Resource Unit, Warrants Unit, Court Room Security Unit, Courthouse Security Unit, and The Security, Intelligence and Planning Unit.

Uniform Patrol

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office Uniform Patrol responds 24 hours, seven days a week. A sergeant supervises the shift's operations. There are four teams that work 12- hour shifts. The Uniform Patrol is responsible for the following:

• Initial responder to all calls for service
• Initiating incident reports on reportable incidents
• Conducting follow-up investigations on incidents not assigned to the Investigations Division
• Patrolling neighborhood and business areas
• Transporting prisoners to and from the detention center for court
• Transporting mental patients to Columbia, Charleston and other areas of the state
• Serving arrest warrants
• Serving civil papers
• Enforcing traffic laws
• Assisting S.C. Highway Patrol on vehicle accidents
• Assisting other Emergency Services ( Fire, EMS ) with traffic control
• Prosecuting criminal cases in magistrate's court
• Providing funeral escorts
• Assisting other GCSO Units as needed

Criminal Investigations Unit

The Criminal Investigations Unit consists of a Violent Crimes Section, Property Crimes Section, Financial Crimes Section and a Polygraph Section. The Criminal Investigations Unit is responsible for the following:

• Investigating murders, assault and batteries, armed robberies, rapes and other crimes against persons
• Investigating burglaries, grand larcenies (value greater than $ 1,000.00), motor vehicle thefts and other larcenies requiring a follow-up investigation
• Investigating forgeries, embezzlements, scams and other white collar crimes
• Investigating computer crimes
• Processing crime scenes (finger prints, photographs, collect evidence)
• Registering sex offenders located in Georgetown County
• Maintaining current list of registered sex offenders
• Obtaining and serving search warrants
• Preparing and presenting cases to the State Grand Jury
• Preparing and presenting cases in Magistrate's Court
• Preparing case packets for the Solicitor's Office
• Assisting other GCSO Units as needed

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office has a full-time deputy certified as a polygraph examiner to assist in the investigation of illegal activity. The polygraph examiner is responsible for the following:

Drug Enforcement Unit/Organized Crime Bureau/ K-9 Unit

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Unit is responsible for investigating illegal drug activity in Georgetown County. The Drug Enforcement Unit is part of the Organized Crime Bureau, a narcotics task force staffed by Georgetown County Sheriff's Office Drug Enforcement Unit Deputies and Georgetown City Police Officers. The responsibilities of the Drug Enforcement Unit are as follows:

• Conducting investigations and operations into illegal drug activities
• Coordinating narcotic investigation activities with other local, state, and federal agencies
• Collecting and documenting evidence
• Preparing and serving search warrants involving illegal narcotics
• Serving arrest warrants
• Assisting other GCSO Units as needed

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office has K-9 Narcotics dogs which are used to search for illegal narcotics. Deputies are assigned as full-time handlers to work with the dogs. The K-9 Unit is responsible for the following:

• Assist the GCSO Narcotics Unit on searches
• Conduct traffic interdiction for illegal narcotics
• Conduct searches at area school when requested by the school district
• Search the Port of Georgetown including ships and vehicles for illegal narcotics
• Assisting GCSO Units as needed in searches for illegal narcotics
• Assisting other law enforcement agencies when requested for searches for illegal narcotics
• Assisting other GCSO Units as needed

Intensified Criminal Enforcement Unit (ICE)

The Intensified Crime Enforcement Unit (ICE) is assigned specific missions to combat crime and resolve problems in communities throughout the county. The units capabilities include:

• Street Crime Enforcement
• Surveillance
• Narcotics Enforcement
• Traffic Enforcement
• Community Policing
• Assisting other GCSO Units as needed

Selective Traffic Enforcement

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office patrols the roads of Georgetown County enforcing traffic laws. The Sheriff's Office works with the South Carolina Highway Patrol and other local traffic enforcement units to enforce traffic laws and reduce traffic accidents.