Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office (Texas)

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over one million citizens of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Edinburg, Texas, the county seat of Hidalgo County.[1]

Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
AbbreviationHCSO
Agency overview
Formed1852
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionHidalgo County, Texas, Texas, United States
Legal jurisdictionHidalgo County, Texas
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters711 El Cibolo Road • Edinburg, TX
Sworn members654
(peace and detention officers)
Unsworn members84
(reserve officers)
Sheriff responsible
Agency executive
  • Mario Lopez, Chief Deputy

The jurisdiction of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the Texas Highway Patrol, the five Hidalgo County Constable Precincts, and several municipal police agencies including the city of McAllen Police Department. The duties of a Texas sheriff generally include keeping the county jail, providing bailiffs for the county and district courts within his county and serving process issued by said courts, and providing general law enforcement services to residents. The current sheriff of Hidalgo County is J.E. "Eddie" Guerra since April 3, 2014.

Organization

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is divided into four divisions: Administration, Adult Detention, Investigative Services and Uniform Services. The Public Integrity Unit/Internal Affairs is a separate, standalone division of the department.

  • Administration Division
    • Financial Services
    • Motorpool
    • Public Information
    • Training Academy
  • Adult Detention Division
    • Jail Administration
    • Jail Operations
  • Investigative Services Division
    • Criminal Investigations Division
    • Criminal Intel
  • Uniform Services Division
    • Communications
    • Crime Prevention
    • Patrol

History

From 1872 to 1875, Sheriff Alex J. Leo served as the first sheriff in the history of Hidalgo County. In 1890, John Closner became Sheriff and shortly afterward, under the protection of James B. Wells Jr., became the county's political boss. During his rule he brought peace to the county and was seen as such an effective leader that he was nicknamed the "father" of Hidalgo County.[2]

List of Hidalgo County Sheriffs (partial):

Name Dates
E.E. Vickers 1954-1968
Claudio Castañeda 1968-1976
Brigido "Brig" Marmolejo 1976-1994
Enrique "Henry" Escalon 1994-2005
Guadalupe "Lupe" Treviño 2005-2014
J.E. "Eddie" Guerra 2014-Present

Ranks

These are the ranks of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office:

Title Insignia
Sheriff
Chief Deputy
Division Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Deputy
Detention Officer / Jailer

Fallen Officers

Since the establishment of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, 6 officers have died in the line of duty.[3]

Officer Date of death Details
Benito Eduardo Bravo
July 21, 1987
Automobile crash
Manuel Abelardo Segovia, Jr.
October 31, 1986
Gunfire
Alvin Marcellus Albrecht
December 1, 1942
Gunfire
George Dennett
July 7, 1935
Gunfire
Sam R. Tidwell
June 29, 1935
Motorcycle crash
Jose Vela
April 5, 1919
Gunfire

Panama Unit

The Panama Unit was a special task force comprising Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office deputies and Mission Police Department officers that answered directly to Guadalupe "Lupe" Treviño, Hidalgo County Sheriff from 2005 to 2014, despite him denying such in court.[4] The Unit was designed to target street-level drug dealers.

The Unit

The Panama Unit was a narcotics task force composed of several deputies from the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office and officers from the City of Mission Police Department in the Rio Grande Valley. The task force answered directly to Sheriff Treviño and among others, consisted of Sheriff Treviño's son, Johnathan Treviño, the de facto leader of the unit and the former police chief of the City of Hidalgo Rodolfo Espinoza's son, Alexis Rigoberto Espinoza.[4] The drug conspiracy charges against the members, including the head of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Crimestoppers unit, date back to early 2009.[5]

The Trial

All but one pleaded guilty to helping certain drug traffickers steal drug loads from other drug dealers. Deputy Jorge Garza, subsequently found guilty, pleaded not guilty and went to trial. Many details about the inner workings of the Sheriff's Office came to fruition. Members of the Panama Unit would conduct bogus traffic stops and guard drug loads for certain traffickers.[6] The District Attorney for Hidalgo County, Rene Guerra, has said "Their credibility went from absolute to zero." As a result, he believes he will have to throw out 50-75 cases from state court that relied heavily on the Panama Unit's testimony.[7] Sheriff Treviño has stated that "personally and professionally," Dec. 12, 2012, the day many of the lawmen were arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), was "my 9/11." [8] All men were found guilty or pleaded guilty and Jonathan Treviño was sentenced to 17 years for his role.

On Christmas Eve of 2013, Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office Commander Jose Padilla was indicted on drug and money laundering charges. While at the Sheriff's Office, Padilla, who was considered the number 2 lawman of Hidalgo County, [9] oversaw the now defunct Panama Unit.[10] During the Panama Unit trial with Deputy Jorge Garza, federal judge Randy Crane notified Padilla that he was the subject of a federal investigation and Padilla subsequently "plead the Fifth" in court and refused to testify.[11] Padilla is accused of helping provide protection to drug traffickers in exchange for money.[9]

Controversies

On October 8, 2015, the United Kingdom's Daily Mail newspaper released a false article about the security conditions of the region due to the proximity of Hidalgo County, Texas with Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in Mexico. On October 11, 2015, the Hidalgo County Sheriff called out the inaccurate reporting done by the Daily Mail for their flawed story about life on the Texas border. Specifically, the Sheriff mentioned “we are disappointed in the inaccuracies of this report by the Daily Mail and the misleading perception that it created by describing McAllen and Hidalgo County as areas where Texas residents can hear gunshots at all hours of the day and even spot heavily armed drug smugglers in their streets after dark”.[12]

Social Media

In an effort to create public awareness and transparency about the agency's operations, the Sheriff's Office opened an official Facebook account to keep in touch with the community and make important agency related announcements. The Facebook account can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/hidalgocountysheriffsofficetx.[13]

References
  1. Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
  2. Hidalgo County | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
  3. Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office Officer Down Memorial Page
  4. Dave Hendricks (2013-03-03). "Documents: Panama Unit answered directly to Sheriff Treviño - The Monitor: Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  5. "Former South Texas sheriff's deputy facing drug charges enters not guilty plea". Fox News. 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  6. Dave Hendricks (2013-08-03). "'Not a powerful man': After rise from street cop to local political elite, Treviño questioned in corruption trial - Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  7. Jacob Fischler (2013-05-30). "50-75 'tarnished' Panama Unit cases to be thrown out, Guerra says - The Monitor: Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  8. Ildefonso Ortiz (2013-07-10). "Sheriff: Panama Unit scandal 'personally and professionally … my 9/11' - The Monitor: Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  9. Ildefonso Ortiz (2013-12-24). "Feds arrest Hidalgo County sheriff's No. 2 man - The Monitor: Home". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  10. Hendricks, Dave. "Sheriff's commander indicted on drug, money laundering charges - Brownsville Herald: Valley". Brownsville Herald. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  11. Ildefonso Ortiz (2013-08-01). "Sheriff's commander refuses to testify in Panama Unit case; DA's investigator does same, is fired - The Monitor: Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  12. After trashing McAllen, the Daily Mail returns to ask how the city got 'such a bad rap?' | Valleycentral
  13. Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
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