Community Programs and Services
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office offers a variety of free safety-related and crime-preventive services to the community, as well as a number of programs that are designed to improve the quality of life for all citizens and to establish and promote positive interactions with law enforcement.
Community Programs
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Chaplains Program was established to provide guidance, assistance and counseling to Sheriff’s Office employees who wish to use their services.
The Chaplains serve as volunteers, but are asked to be available to our deputy sheriffs, their families, our community and possibly outside agencies whenever they may be needed. Multiple Chaplains from different denominations and backgrounds serve on the Chaplains program.
Citizens Police Academy, or CPA, is an eight-week program designed to give Beaufort County residents insight into the many services the Sheriff’s Office provides.
During the program, Sheriff’s Office personnel offer overviews of our interesting and diverse services, including patrol operations, emergency management, criminal and cold case investigations, SWAT and forensic sciences.
To learn more about the program and how to apply, please click here.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program provides training to Beaufort County residents to increase self-sufficiency in a disaster.
Participants learn basic disaster response skills that will enable them to provide emergency assistance to their families and neighbors.
CERT classes are offered free and are held at various times throughout the year. Notices of class registration are sent to the public through social media platforms.
To learn more about CERT training, contact [email protected].
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office offers the Explorer Program to anyone between the ages of 14 and 21 who may be interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.
Applicants accepted to the program are provided with a uniform and meet with the Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program coordinator every other Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. to shadow deputy sheriffs, who will show them the ropes.
The Explorer Program is an exciting way to gain valuable insight into a career in law enforcement.
For more information on the Sheriff’s Office’s Explorer Program and how to apply, please click here.
In 2018, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Community Crisis Response Intervention, now known as Mobile Crisis, in an effort to appropriately and safely respond to calls for service involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
When the Mobile Crisis Team is dispatched for an intervention, law enforcement will accompany the mental health professionals for the purposes of safety during a crisis event. The coordinated efforts have created resource support for the community and are an important tool in de-escalation.
To learn more about the Mobile Crisis program, please click here.
To address the alarming rate of overdoses and deaths from prescription and illicit drug abuse, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the Beaufort Memorial Hospital and the Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth partnered in 2018 to install three prescription drug drop boxes in Beaufort County.
Since the installation of the boxes — in Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island — more than 5,000 pounds of unused prescription medications have been collected, properly disposed of and kept off the streets.
For the locations and hours of the drug drop boxes, please click here.
Project Lifesaver is the premier search-and-rescue program operated internationally by public safety agencies, and is strategically designed for “at risk” individuals who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering.
The primary mission of Project Lifesaver is to provide timely response to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children with the propensity to wander due to a cognitive condition.
To learn more about Project Lifesaver and how to sign up a loved one for this program, click here.
The Reserve Deputy Program offers citizens an avenue to obtain law enforcement training and experience, while giving back to their community.
Reserve Deputy positions are voluntary and unpaid.
To learn more about what it takes to become a reserve deputy sheriff and join our team, please click here.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has a volunteer program to assist in the main lobby at our Hilton Head Island office.
Volunteers are asked to work one four-hour shift per week during normal weekday business hours.
Their duties include answering and routing telephone calls to the appropriate personnel; assisting residents and guests who come into the office; and working alongside deputy sheriffs assigned to the lobby.
If you interested in joining the Sheriff’s Office’s family of volunteers, please complete the volunteer application here.
Sheriff's Office Services
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office provides free criminal records checks for individuals by request.
These background checks pertain only to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office arrest records and will not be provided to third-party requestors, with the exception of military and other law enforcement agencies.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Northern and Southern Patrol Branches conduct thousands of additional patrols a year at the request of citizens and business owners in an effort to prevent burglaries, vehicle break-ins or other criminal activities.
To request additional patrols of your residence, neighborhood or place of business, please fill out a request form by clicking here.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office offers free fingerprinting services at our Beaufort and Hilton Head Island offices to anyone needing them.
For more information on requirements and hours of operation, click here.
A hazardous material is any item or agent — biological, chemical, radiological or physical — that has the potential to cause harm to humans, animals or the environment.
In 1990, a Beaufort County Hazardous Materials Ordinance was enacted to protect first-responders from injury or death that that may result from explosion, fire or exposure to unknown dangerous substances and to protect the natural environment through the monitoring and disposal of hazardous materials.
The ordinance requires any business in Beaufort County that has hazardous materials on site to register yearly with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Hazardous Materials Unit.
To learn more about Hazardous Materials registration requirements, please click here.
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 amended the federal criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired or separated law enforcement officers to carry a concealed firearm in any jurisdiction in the United States, regardless of state or local laws.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office holds H.R. 218 qualifications three times a year at our firearms training range.
To find out more about upcoming dates and how to sign up, please click here.
In 2011, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed House Bill 3660, commonly known as the “Copper Theft Bill” into law.
Under this law, any person wishing to transport and sell any nonferrous metals — including copper and catalytic converters — to a scrap metal dealer must first obtain a permit to transport and sell from the sheriff’s office county where the seller resides.
Additionally, any person or business intending to purchase nonferrous metals — including copper or catalytic converters — must obtain a permit to purchase from the sheriff’s office in the county where they do business.
Beaufort Sheriff’s Office issues free two-year permits to transport and sell nonferrous metals.
The Sheriff’s Office charges $200 to issue two-year permits to purchase nonferrous metals.
HOW TO OBTAIN A PERMIT
Permits are issued in-person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Center, 2001 Duke St., Beaufort.
Only Beaufort County residents and businesses may obtain nonferrous metal permits from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone wishing to obtain a permit to transport or sell nonferrous metals must bring their state-issued ID with them. Businesses seeking a permit to buy nonferrous metals must also bring their business license.
The crime prevention officer conducts multiple presentations throughout the year across Beaufort County. These presentations are offered to large and small groups for free.
A request can be made for them to be a speaker at an event or to simply be present and a part of an event. A few of the most requested presentation are:
- Safety tips
- CRASE (Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events)
- Scams and fraud
- Local crime trends
- Presentations to youth groups, community groups, and senior citizens
For more information, contact Staff Sergeant Daniel Allen at 843-255-3293 or [email protected].
To request a speaker, please fill out a form by clicking here.
Sex offender registration is a system for monitoring and tracking convicted sex offenders following their release back into the community.
The registration provides important information about convicted sex offenders to local and federal authorities and the public, such as an offender’s name, current location and past offenses.
To search Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office’s Sex Offender Registry, click here.
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office are available to provide security at community gatherings, churches or any other special event in Beaufort County.
To request that a uniformed deputy be on site at your church or event, please click here.
