The Dallas Sheriff's Department is legislatively mandated.
Established March 30th 1846 we have come a long way.
Today the Department's primary responsibility is the Detention Bureau.
Our jail is the 6th largest in the United States of America.
We also are responsible for;
Security of the court rooms
Estray Livestock
Warrant Services
Fugitives and prisoner transportation
Civil Process
Un incorporated Patrol services
Contracted Patrol services
Traffic Enforcement
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
Vehicle Crimes Unit
K-9 / Highway Drug Interdiction
Special Investigations Unit
Criminal Investigations
Physical Evidence Unit
Highway Courtesy Patrol
Auto Theft Investigations Task Force
Regional Training Academy
Reserve Deputy Unit
Personnel Unit
Chaplains Unit
Honor Guard Unit
Content
?TRINITY RIVER MASSACRE? In February 1971, The Dallas Headlines were full of stories of one of the largest manhunts in Texas history in search for an ex-convict in connection with the kidnap-slaying of three Deputy Sheriffs. Five deputies had been kidnapped on Monday Feb, 15, 1971, three of them killed, one wounded and a fifth escaped unharmed in a rain of bullets. ?It was a needless killing?.an execution,? said former Dallas County Sheriff Clarence Jones. The manhunt was for Rene Adolpho Guzman, 33, and an accomplice charged with murdering the slain deputies. The dead officers were William D. Reese, 31; Samuel Infante, 32, both Dallas County Deputies, and A.J. Robertson, 59, an Ellis County Deputy. Dallas Deputy A.D. McCurley had escaped harm while Ellis County Deputy Wednell Dover received gunshot wounds in the chest. The gunman Guzman, had a lengthy arrest and prison record that dated back to 1959. Texas law enforcement officers had established a dragnet along the Texas-Mexican Border by officers who thought that Guzman might have been trying to flee to Mexico. Deputy McCurley stated that the killings occurred this way. Deputy Infante had accompanied Deputy Dover and Deputy Robertson to a West Dallas address to investigate a burglary which had occurred in Ellis County. The officers carried an arrest warrant and were admitted into the house by two men. Later, they called the Sheriff?s Office and asked for an another form pertaining to a search of the home. Deputy McCurley and Deputy Reese brought the form. ?There was nothing suspicious when we arrived,? Deputy McCurley said. They knocked on the door and a voice said, ?Come in.? The officers stepped inside and saw the three other officers bound to chairs. Deputy McCurley and Deputy Reese were overpowered and secured by the two gun men. The gunmen forced all five deputies into one of their squad cars and ordered them to drive to the Trinity River Bottoms. ?Deputy Infante tried ramming passenger cars three times, but each time one of the men shoved a gun in his stomach,? Deputy McCurley said. Much of the abductor?s conversation was in Spanish, understood only by Deputy Infante and the gunmen. When they reached the Trinity River Bottoms, Deputy Infante turned to his fellow officers and said ?This is it. They?re going to kill us now.? Deputy Reese pleaded: ?There is no reason to kill us now, you have our guns.? ?No. You can identify us.? said one gunman. Deputy Reese tried to punch one of the gunman who carried two pistols and missed. The gunman opened fire and Deputy Reese fell to the ground. Deputy McCurley dived over an embankment. Bullets and screams ripped the air. ?I could hear hollering and shooting up above,? he said. Deputy McCurley fought his way through the underbrush to a highway where a motorist picked him up and took him to a service station. ?I called the police and borrowed the attendant?s .32 derringer,? he said. Deputy McCurley went back to the murder scene but it was too late. He found Deputy Dover, wounded and in shock, stumbling through the brush. He found the other three Deputies dead. In one of the largest manhunts in Dallas County history, the killers were captured hiding in an East Dallas rooming house at 4627 San Jacinto. The assailants were convicted and sentenced to four life terms. Today, the Deputy Memorial stands in tribute to not only those Deputies that lost their lives that day but the 19 Dallas County Sheriff?s Deputies who paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives service of Dallas County.
