TEAMS

The Emergency Response Team (E.R.T.) is a designated La Porte County Sheriff law enforcement team, whose members are selected, trained, equipped, and assigned to resolve critical incidents involving a threat to public safety which would otherwise exceed the capabilities of traditional law enforcement first responders and/or investigative units.

ERT officers are responsible for rapid deployment to contain, control, and neutralize any threat to the safety and welfare of the surrounding community or property when incidents such as sabotage attempts, armed intrusion, hostage-taking, sniper or terrorist attacks, weapons of mass destruction or civil disobedience situations, or chemical accidents occur. They provide emergency response to La Porte County citizens, property, and entities.

Below are some of the demands that the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office requires for the E.R.T. team.
• Ability to maintain optimal mission capability through operations of extended duration.
• Be willing and able to participate in arrests and other dangerous assignments, all of which pose the risk of personal bodily harm.
• Maintain a high-level of fitness necessary to effectively respond to life-threatening situations.
• Perform a wide variety of tasks while wearing personal protective equipment.
• Complete the Physical Ability Test.
• Pass Range Qualification.

Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (FACT) investigates motor vehicle collisions where impairment is suspected and result in a fatality, within the boundary of La Porte County. The objective of this multi-faceted team is to ensure the arrest and conviction of vehicle operators that are suspected of killing another motorist/passenger while under the influence of alcohol/narcotics. Conception of the La Porte County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team was in 2012. Formation of this team originated from grants by the Indiana Governor’s Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving. Early on, participating team members included various law enforcement agencies such as La Porte City Police, Michigan City Police, Indiana State Police as well as Indiana Excise Police. The La Porte County Prosecutor’s Office has participated with FACT since 2012.

By 2017, the original multi-agency teams had disbanded. Some individual agencies have re-created their own teams, retaining the FACT methodology of investigation.

Over the years, individuals participating with FACT have been privileged to receive training and utilize hi-tech equipment/technology. This has benefited investigations to answer questions at times which may not have been able to be previously answered. This technology included: lasers systems for measuring, computer-aided drawing programs, collision data retrieval systems (black-box) as well as drones.

Participation with this team is strictly voluntary. The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office FACT consists of an accident reconstructionist, evidence technicians, drone pilots, investigators specializing in interviewing as well as specialists in impairment investigations.

All members of the La Porte County Sheriff's Office are required to qualify with their firearm every year. The range is open once a month for the Merit Deputies, Jail Deputies, Reserves, Posse, and other members of the Sheriff’s Office. All our qualified officers are trained by highly skilled firearms instructors that must go through the same qualification and training. All instructors attend specific training to be qualified firearms instructors and are tested to meet certain standards. Our range is also used for advanced training by the FBI and other agencies/tactical teams. The La Porte County Sheriff's Office takes great pride in its range facility and the ability to train our officers as well as the surrounding community of law enforcement.

The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit currently has four members. The K-9s are usually chosen from Denver, Indiana, where a K-9 is selected from Vohne Liche Kennels. It is a full-service K-9 training facility where the best of the best goes for highly trained Police Service Dogs. Vohne Liche Kennels was founded in 1993 by United States Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Kenneth Licklider. The training staff at VLK consists of eighteen 18 on-site trainers and six off-site trainers. All the training staff is either former military, law enforcement, or both. VLK also has the advantage of utilizing several trainers who are considered subject matter experts in their career fields. These experts take time from their busy careers to contribute their expertise to classes throughout the year. All handlers and K-9s will go through a rigorous handler’s course at the facility. There are different fields of expertise for training. For example, our newest K-9 Simba, has been trained in narcotics detection and apprehension of suspects.

The funding for our police canines come from charitable donations and fundraising efforts. There have been several service organizations, charitable groups, and individual citizens who support the division and contribute to the Sheriff’s Office donation account so the deputies and their K-9 partners may provide valuable public safety services at no additional expense to the taxpayers of La Porte County.

The Marine Patrol Unit is responsible for law enforcement duties on all La Porte County’s lakes that include larger navigable bodies of water such as Lake Michigan, Fish Lake, Hudson Lake, Saugany Lake, Pine Lake and Stone Lake. The Marine Patrol provides public safety resources to recreational boaters and commercial vessels operating on the waterways within the county of La Porte County. The unit will also investigate crimes and collect evidence from vessels, beaches, or underwater areas, rescue individuals who may be injured or drowning, prepare reports about collisions or criminal acts, arrest perpetrators and transport them to detention facilities. The boat in operation, is a 21-foot rigid-hulled inflatable boat. This boat has recently replaced the Sheriff’s Office aging Boston Whaler.

The Sheriff’s Mounted Posse is a part of our search and rescue efforts and they are available to assist wherever they are needed. The Posse was established to assist the Sheriff and maintain the Western Heritage of our Country. Today, the unit is a search and rescue unit available on-call to search in the terrain of La Porte County. It is used by the Sheriff as a ceremonial color guard for parades and other requirements of the Sheriff. The unit is comprised of volunteers who provide their own equipment, animals, uniforms, and time for the betterment of our community.

The La Porte County Sheriff's Office Reserve Team was established to assist the Sheriff's Office by providing additional manpower when needed. Reserve Deputies assist our merit deputies in many different areas. These select individuals are a great benefit to the Sheriff's Office. It would be impossible for the Sheriff's Office to perform all the duties and provide all the services it does without our Reserve Deputies. They are an extremely valuable part of the team.

The SCUBA team is made up of 6 Merit Officers. The SCUBA team organizes and participates in regular dive trainings. These trainings focus on many aspects of SCUBA including ice rescue, search patterns, evidence recovery, and underwater navigation. All members are required to pass a physical agility test and basic skills test annually. Calls can range from anywhere inside our county. Such examples could be Lake Michigan, Trail Creek, irrigation ditches, or any body of water that requires investigation.

UAS or Unmanned Aerial Systems, includes all items needed to conduct unmanned aircraft operations: the drone, remote controller, camera, GPS, flight software, and any other technology needed to conduct operations. Our UAS pilots operate powered aircraft and all the associated support equipment, control station, data links, telemetry, communications, and navigation equipment necessary to operate it. It does not have a human pilot onboard.

This team puts the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office in the best position to deter, detect, and investigate crimes and complaints. While drones can serve as a useful tool, our agency also has an important role in helping protect the public. The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office authorizes use of our Unmanned Aerial Systems in the following ways:

• Search and Rescue (Suicidal, Dementia, Lost or Missing)

• Foot Pursuit/Suspect Search

• Crash Scene Documentation

• Warrant Authorized Surveillance

• Tactical Operations Support

• Aerial Crime Scene Photography

• Hazmat Scene Observation

• Training Flights

• Disaster Response/Surveying

• Large Structure Fires

• Protest/Crowd Monitoring

• Other uses as approved by Sheriff

Unmanned Aerial Systems may be utilized to enhance the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office mission of protecting lives and property when other means and resources are not available or are less effective. Any use of a UAS will be in strict accordance with constitutional and privacy rights and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.