British Columbia Sheriff Service

The British Columbia Sheriff Service (BCSS) is the provincial police of the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). The BCSS patrols provincial highways and roads, investigates crimes which fall under provincial jurisdiction, and also assists local governments with enhanced policing services, namely the counties of British Columbia which each have their own county constabulary (a generic term for the territorial police force unique to each county). The British Columbia Sheriff Service is also responsible for the transportation of prisoners and remanded detainees between institutions in all BC jurisdictions, maintaining the security of judicial institutions and all persons within the judicial system, administering the provincial witness protection and relocation program, transporting suspects wanted in BC from other Canadian jurisdictions via the fugitive return program, providing hospital guard services to vulnerable persons, protecting senior provincial government officials and their guests, as well as provincial institutions, namely the Legislative Assembly of BC and its members and the executive residence and working place as well as the person of the Premier of BC and his cabinet, and assisting local law enforcement agencies as well as the RCMP to maintain public security and order during major events, among other responsibilities. The Sheriff of British Columbia, the agency chief, is appointed by the Solicitor General of BC on advice of the Premier of BC and the Attorney General.

BC Corrections operates the provincial prisons within BC, and jails are operated by the respective county's Department of Corrections in county areas, while in regional and municipal districts, jails are operated by the Sheriff Service, which is responsible for the transportation of prisoners to, from and between all facilities, such as between jail and court, in all parts of BC.

Sworn officers below the rank of the Sheriff are referred to as sheriff's deputies, or deputies for short, although the undersheriff, the second-highest rank, usually is not, as it consists of a single office to which much of the Sheriff's routine responsibilities are deputised.

Rank structure
Below is a list of all ranks of non-civilian staff (sworn officers/deputies) of the British Columbia Sheriff Service, arranged in descending order from lowest to highest.

All but the highest rank (the sheriff) can be referred to genetically as deputies, as they are all law enforcement officers acting on the deputized authority of the Sheriff of BC. Like most other Canadian law enforcement agencies, BCSS personnel wear their rank insignia on their epaulettes, with the shoulder area below consisting only of the standard shoulder flash worn by BCSS personnel and Canadian/BC flags on the right/left below the shoulder flash.