What is the difference between a sheriff and police department? Do they govern different things and have completely separate powers? Does one have more jurisdiction over another and what happens when it comes to committing a criminal offence?
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In the United States most people live under several overlapping governments, all of which can have their own police force.
You have the federal government which operates various investigative and enforcement agencies like the FBI or ATF, but most people don’t count these as police.
On the state government level you have highway patrol and state troopers who have jurisdiction over interstate highways and the bits of the state that don’t fall under the smaller governments we’ll get to later.
The you have the county level, where sheriffs are elected. Counties are fairly large geographic areas that can include multiple towns and cities.
Then on the lowest level you have the towns and cities that operate their own local police departments. Depending on which state and even which county you are in the local police may or may not supersede the county level law enforcement.
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