British Columbia Sheriff Service

The British Columbia Sheriff Service (BCSS) is the smaller of the two provincial police forces of the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). While sheriff's deputies are legally peace officers, and thus possess the full police powers of regular law enforcement agencies including the authority to enforce the Criminal Code on behalf of the provincial government in any and all contexts, the main focus of the BCSS is on areas of law enforcement and security outside the purview of the larger of BC's two police forces, namely the British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP). While the BCPP patrols provincial highways and roads, investigates crimes under provincial jurisdiction, and also contracts with regional and municipal districts to provide local policing, the British Columbia Sheriff Service is responsible for the transportation of prisoners and remanded detainees between institutions, maintaining the security of all judicial institutions and all persons within the judicial system, administering the provincial witness protection program, providing hospital guard services, protecting senior provincial government officials 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 the BCPP and local law enforcement agencies to maintain public security and order during major events, among other responsibilities. The Sheriff of British Columbia is appointed by the Solicitor General of BC on advice of the Premier of BC and the province's 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 and by BC Corrections in regional and municipal districts, but the Sheriff Service is responsible for the transportation of prisoners to, from and between all facilities, such as between jail and court. The BCSS itself has no jails or detention facilities of its own, as its primary responsibility is handling prisoners or detainees already in custody; furthermore, it is customary for arrests made by deputies to be turned over to the relevant police authority, where formal charging can occur. The BCSS does have the right to lay charges in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, but for the most part this is handled by regular police agencies, including the BCPP; the Sheriff Service also lacks excellent infrastructure in regards to initiating charges.

The "chief" of the British Columbia Sheriff Service is called the Sheriff of British Columbia, and therefore all other officers are officially called sheriff's deputies, or more commonly deputies for short.

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, deputies of the BCSS wear their rank insignia on their epaulettes, with the shoulder area below consisting only of the standard shoulder flash worn by BCSS personnel.