Hanover County Sheriff's Office
The Hanover County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency servicing 99,863 people within of jurisdiction within Hanover County, Virginia. History. The HCSO was created shortly after the county was formed on November 26, 1720. Organization. The HCSO has 236 sworn officers and is headed by Col. David R. Hines, Sheriff. Directly under Col. Hines is Lt. Col. Thomas M. Woody, followed by three Majors, each of whom oversee a Division. The Sheriff's Office was authorized in 2010 by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to operate as an independent  Criminal Justice training Academy. The first recruit basic law enforcement class graduated from the Academy on July 1, 2010, although several Academies had been run in Hanover through Rappahannock Regional Academy.The Hanover County Sheriff's Office is one of only a select few Law Enforcement Agencies in Virginia, and the Country to be fully accredited at both the State and National Level, and was a pioneer in community oriented Law Enforcement. The entire Investigative Operations Division is overseen by a Major, which is made up of General Investigations, Street Crimes, Vice and Narcotics, and Intelligence. The patrol division is  overseen by a Major. The Hanover County Sheriff's Office uses a Beat/Zone system with two platoons consisting of three shifts each. Each Shift is supervised by one lieutenant and two sergeants. Each platoon is supervised by a captain. The court services unit is responsible for Courthouse security at the Hanover County Courthouse, as well as paper service, and custodial transports. The Hanover County Sheriff's Office is not responsible for incarceration, as jailing is managed by Pamunkey Regional Jail - a separate entity from the Sheriff's Office, which also takes arrestees from the Town of Ashland, Caroline County , Virginia State Police, as well as Federal Agencies. The Pamunkey Regional Jail is located in Hanover County, and also houses the Hanover County Magistrate's Office. There are also several Special Units in the Sheriff's Office such as the Traffic Safety Unit, K-9 Unit, the High risk Entry Team, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team (Drone Team) and the Underwater Forensic Team among others.