British Columbia Sheriff Service

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British Columbia Sheriff Service
BCSS arms.jpeg
BCSS patch.jpeg
Shoulder flash of the BCSS
Formed 1 September 1857
Type Law enforcement
Corrections
Employees
• deputies
• civilian staff
16,377
13,329
3048
Motto "Honour, Integrity, Commitment"
Country Canada flag alt.png Canada
Province British Columbia flag.png British Columbia
Constituting instruments BC Police Act
Jurisdiction British Columbia
Population 14.45 million
General nature Provincial bailiff
Judicial police
Headquarters 777 Columbia St
New Westminster, BC
Stations 43
Sheriff of BC Carson Hunt
Responsible to Solicitor General of British Columbia
Website sheriff.gov.bc.ca

The British Columbia Sheriff Service (BCSS; French: Service du Chérif de la Colombie-Britannique) is the sheriff service/judicial police and bailiff of the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). The BCSS is the second largest law enforcement agency in BC, after the British Columbia Provincial Police.

The British Columbia Sheriff Service is 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, including protection of provincial institutions, namely the Assembly of British Columbia and its members and the executive residence and working place as well as the person of the Premier of BC and his cabinet as well as the Deputy President of BC, 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 administrative county's corrections department. The BCSS is responsible for the transportation of prisoners and remanded detainees to, from and between all facilities, such as between jail and court, in all parts of BC.

Deputies below the rank of the Sheriff are referred to generically 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 delegated, allowing a county's chief constable (ceremonial county) to focus on social gatherings involving local politics such as fundraisers and the Crown jewels.

Rank structure[edit | edit source]

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 generically as deputies, as they are all law enforcement officers acting on the deputized authority of the Sheriff of BC, although the single office of Undersheriff usually is not referred to as a deputy, despite technically being so. 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.

# Rank Abbreviation Insignia
1) Junior Deputy Sheriff JD
2) Sergeant Deputy Sheriff SD
3) Lieutenant Deputy Sheriff LD
4) Captain Deputy Sheriff CD
5) Major Deputy Sheriff MD
6) First Deputy Sheriff FD
7) Chief Deputy Sheriff CD
8) Assistant Undersheriff AUS
9) Undersheriff US
10) Sheriff n/a