Sheriff's Office Response Team

In 1998, the Sheriff's Office created the Sheriff's Office Response Team in order to have an elite team of intensely trained deputies that remains on-call 24 hours a day to respond to unusual occurrances within the jail.

The SORTeam is trained in riot control, cell extraction, chemical munitions, special weapons, and advanced defensive tactics in a paramilitary fashion in order to ensure a fast response to major disturbances within the jail.

All members of the SORTeam undergo intense paramilitary training. With the help of the Sheriff's Office Training Section as well as outside agencies, SORTteam members become proficient in the use of special weapons, new technologies as well as new techniques in defensive tactics and riot control.

Members focus their training on the use of non-lethal defensive tactics and special weapons in order to prevent the introduction of deadly weapons into the jail.

The SORTeam is an elite group of deputies selected by a review board who have passed an intense physical agility test before being considered for membership.

The SORTeam trains throughout the year and stages mock riots, cell extractions and cell fires in order to anticipate the types of problems that may arise in the jail.