About San Francisco Sheriff’s Department History Online

All published SFSD History Online articles periodically have new additions to content and graphics. The research process is ever evolving and new information continues to be integrated throughout the site.

> 2023 published

> 2022 published

> Next to be published: "The Broadway Jail"

Michael Hennessey - author, editor, researcher. He is the longest tenured Sheriff in San Francisco history, serving from 1980-2012.

Richard Dyer - author, editor, researcher. He is the creator/writer of The Giants Cove and annoyingly claims to be a proficient bass player and a luminous writer.

San Francisco Sheriff's Department History Online is an ongoing project researched, written and edited by Michael Hennessey and Richard Dyer.

Virtually all of the material presented here is first-hand research by the authors working with primary sources. The full documentation of this San Francisco history did not previously exist prior to its publication here.

We would like to thank the generous staffs at the San Francisco Main Library SF History Center, the Bancroft and Doe Libraries at UC Berkeley, and the California State Library for their invaluable and continuing help.

Other graphics, photos and additional material from Michael Hennessey's personal collection. Also our thanks for additional graphics from retired SFSD Undersheriff Carl Koehler and former SFSD Sr. Dep. Mike Anderson. Initial site design by Richard Dyer.

Contact: [email protected] | Graphics navigation: click on most photos or graphics to enlarge. All sources and reproduced materials noted. Please forward any corrections, suggestions, comments, or additional material relevant to the history of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.

The independent research and specific text of this website may not be reproduced or published without the documented permission and specific attribution of the authors. Copyright © 2014 Michael Hennessey/Richard Dyer. Expensively-dressed attorneys are poised with designer leather briefcases in their hands, ready to take legal action in the event this rule is not followed.

Read the brilliant but wordy official press release announcing the publication of San Francisco Sheriff's Department History Online

Note: The authors are actively seeking SFSD History website sponsorship to continue to purchase the rights for, and have copies made of, historic photos and documents from libraries and museums, for the development of content, and for the ongoing costs of website design and administration. Contact us at [email protected].                                                     

                                        ***Check out the SFSD History Online "Partners" page.***