In addition to regular patrol duties, sworn merit officers have the opportunity to serve on specialized teams and details within the department. The Grant County Sheriff's Department provides the community with the services of our Emergency Response Team, Honor Guard Detail, Crisis Negotiation Team, Crash Investigation Teams, K-9 Unit, Joint Effort Against Narcotics (J.E.A.N.) Team and Drug Recognition Experts.

Emercency Response Team (ERT)

The Emergency Response Team (ERT) is a specialized team within the department. The ERT team consists of twelve members and responds to variety of special types of circumstances. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, felony warrant service, barricaded subjects, armed encounters, high risk search warrants, and hostage situations. Current supervisor of the ERT Team is Chief Deputy Tim Holtzleiter. The members volunteer for assignment on the team and new team members are voted on by current members of the team. The team takes into consideration prior training received, experience, safety, physical fitness, attitude, and firearm proficiency when reviewing applicants. The new member then must be approved the by Chief Deputy and Sheriff prior to being placed on the team as a probationary member. The ERT Team trains monthly in addition to regular department duties and are specially trained in tactical response and crisis situations. All current members have attended The Delaware County SWAT School and participated in the SWAT Challenge for the first time in 2009. Team member Jason Ewer won “Top Cop” honors at the competition.

Crisis Negotiation Team

The Crisis Negotiation Team consists members, Capt. Randy Albertson, Sgt. Mike Moore, Dep. Dee Albertson, Dep. Dee Albertson, Dep. Matt Ogden and Dep. Aaron Oyler, and the team leader, Capt. Mike Ross. The negotiation team has many hours of advanced training including training received from the F.B.I., Indianapolis P.D., N.Y.P.D., Capt. Frank Bolz (retired) and the Indiana Association of Crisis-Hostage Negotiators.

Honor Guard Detail

The Grant County Sheriff’s Departments Honor Guard was started in 1998. The purpose was so that a formal and honorable funeral service could be conducted to honor officers when they died and to serve at the direction of the Sheriff. Along with the honor of providing funeral services for many law enforcement officers, locally and across the state, the unit has preformed for various organizations, community groups, public ceremonies, and for two sitting Governors of the State of Indiana. The unit is posted and pictured on the Arlington National Cemetery’s web site for services rendered for fallen service members. The Honor Guard started with seven deputies, just enough to conduct a funeral service. Former Sheriff Darrell Himelick was one of its original members. The unit today consists of ten deputies from all divisions of the Sheriff’s Department and is currently under the direction of Lt. Ed Beaty.

Since 2003, the Sheriff's Department has allowed the unit to escort all Grant County service members, who have died while serving our country, home for burial. One officer is assigned to act as a liaison to the family and military for the duration of the service.

Because of its design, the Honor Guard works very closely with the department’s Chaplaincy Ministry in assisting the families we serve. The Honor Guard also works with many different disciplines in the community, including the funeral homes. Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral Service has provided the unit a training location and equipment and it is the official training site of the Honor Guard.

Crash Investigation Teams

The Grant County Sheriff's Department has three Crash Investigation Teams which rotate on-call status on a monthly basis. Each team has six members and are led by Sergeant Mike Moore, Team #1, Sgt. Jim Kinzie, Team #2, and Lieutenant Ed Beaty, Team #3. Deputy Dee Albertson is the certified crash reconstructionist for the department. The teams investigate all major personal injury, fatal and serious alcohol related crashes. They are also used to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash and assist the Prosecutor's office in filing charges.

K9 Unit

The Under construction.

J.E.A.N. Team

The "Joint Effort Against Narcotics” (J.E.A.N.) Team " is comprised of officers from the Grant County Sheriff's Department, the Marion Police Department, and the Grant County Prosecutor's Office. Task Force. J.E.A.N.Team detectives investigate drug related crimes in Marion, Grant County and all towns within Grant County. Undercover detectives do a variety of different tasks, such as undercover drug purchases, surveillance, and investigating leads on drug activity within the community. Detectives work with many different agencies such as DEA, ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshals, State Police, and other local agencies to detect, and arrest drug traffickers. The J.E.A.N.Team has made large drug seizures of cocaine and marijuana in Grant County. The unit has a criminal analyst who is responsible for obtaining, logging and disseminating information to detectives and different departments or agencies. Detectives also act on tips from the public and encourage the public to help by calling dispatch or crime stoppers at 765.668.8168 if they have information on drug related crimes.

Drug Recognition Experts

The Drug Recognition Expert (D.R.E.) program was started in Grant County after seeing the need for detection methods of Drug Impaired Drivers. The Sheriff’s Department certified its first deputy as a D.R.E. in 1996. Through this program a D.R.E. detects the presence of drugs in an individual using Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and standardized 12-step evaluation involving psychophysical and physiological testing. There are only approximately 200 certified D.R.E. officers in the state of Indiana; 46 of those are instructors. The Grant County Sheriff’s Department now has eight certified deputies, two of which are instructors. The D.R.E. certification course is very intense; officers spend two weeks at a specialized training school. After graduating the school, officers are required to complete 12 evaluations as part of the certification process. Once the officer has started in the program it may take up to four months or more before that officer is certified nationally as a Drug Recognition Expert. The D.R.E. officers assist all divisions within the Sheriff’s Department. Their primary goal is to reduce personal injury and fatal crashes by identifying drug impaired drivers. D.R.E. officers also work in criminal investigations and assist in the prosecution of drug impaired drivers. The D.R.E. program works to educate the community about the dangers of Drug Impaired Driving. The Grant County Sheriff’s Department D.R.E. program has been recognized several times by the Indiana State Coordinator for its work in this field and has also served as a field certification site for this area.

Drug Interdiction and Operation Pullover

The Grant County Sheriff's Department receives grant funding from the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team (DART) to pay deputies overtime for special patrols related to drug interdiction and alcohol impaired driving. DART is Grant County's local coordinating council for the Governor's Commission for a Drug Free Indiana. The Sheriff’s Department also participates in the Operation Pull Over program. This program has a “zero tolerance policy” towards unbelted drivers. Deputies working overtime patrols are targeting traffic violations such as passenger and child restraint violations, speeding, improper passing, disregarding traffic signals and alcohol and drug impaired driving. In addition to year-round patrols, there are periodic statewide Operation Pullover “blitzes” in which law enforcement agencies all over Indiana work extra patrols focusing on specific traffic offenses. In 2011 the Grant County Traffic Safety Partnership was formed with the Grant County Sheriff's Department, Marion, Gas City, Fairmount, Swayzee, Sweetser and Van Buren Police Departments. Overtime patrols are funded by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.