Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office (Texas)

Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation HCSO
Agency overview
Formed 1852
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction Hidalgo County, Texas, Texas, United States
Legal jurisdiction Hidalgo County, Texas
General nature • Local civilian agency
Headquarters 711 El Cibolo Road • Edinburg, TX

Sworn members 433
Unsworn members 114
Sheriff responsible

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]

Organization

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is divided into four divisions: Investigative Services, Adult Detention, Uniform Services and Administration.

  • Investigative Services Division
    • Criminal Investigations Division
  • Adult Detention Division
    • Jail Administration
  • Uniform Services Division
    • Training Academy
  • Administration Division
    • Grants

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-

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

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 Sheriff Guadalupe "Lupe" Treviño, despite him denying such in court.[3] 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 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 City of Hidalgo Police Chief Rodolfo Espinoza's son, Alexis Rigoberto Espinoza.[3] The drug conspiracy charges against the members, including the head of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Crimestoppers unit, date back to early 2009.[4]

The Trial

All but one plead guilty to helping certain drug traffickers steal drug loads from other drug dealers. Deputy Jorge Garza, subsequently found guilty, plead 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.[5] 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.[6] 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." [7] 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, [8] oversaw the now defunct Panama Unit.[9] 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.[10] Padilla is accused of helping provide protection to drug traffickers in exchange for money.[8]

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.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
  2. ↑ Hidalgo County | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
  3. 1 2 Dave Hendricks (2013-03-03). "Documents: Panama Unit answered directly to Sheriff Treviño - The Monitor: Local News". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  4. ↑ "Former South Texas sheriff's deputy facing drug charges enters not guilty plea". Fox News. 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. 1 2 Ildefonso Ortiz (2013-12-24). "Feds arrest Hidalgo County sheriff's No. 2 man - The Monitor: Home". The Monitor. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  9. ↑ Hendricks, Dave. "Sheriff's commander indicted on drug, money laundering charges - Brownsville Herald: Valley". Brownsville Herald. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office
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