Alpena County Sheriff's Office

Deputies with the Alpena County Sheriff's Office in northeast Michigan answer calls for service throughout the unincorporated county, and the office's Marine Division keeps personnel on call around the clock for boaters in distress. Animal control falls under the sheriff here as well, enforcing state law and county ordinances on the care, control, treatment and licensing of domestic animals. Much of the office's public service is preventive: three certified car seat technicians inspect child safety seats, residents leaving town can request free vacation checks on their homes, neighborhood watch groups get support from deputies, and an autism awareness program helps officers and families prepare for encounters. Residents can also come in by appointment for fingerprinting, including LiveScan and ink cards for concealed pistol licenses and court-ordered prints, and for firearms purchase permits. The office runs the county jail from a new correctional facility it describes as state of the art, where inmates have commissary access and visitation is scheduled on weekdays. Its stated mission is to safeguard lives and property and to carry out law enforcement and custody duties in a way that keeps the public's trust.