January POWERhour!
Deputy Chief Nancy Sanford
NOTICE - THE ORIGINAL DATE OF THIS EVENT WAS JANUARY 17 AND HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO JANUARY 31 DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Our year kicks off with a POWERhour! featuring Deputy Chief Nancy Sanford from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office - Criminal Investigation Division.
Chief Sanford was selected by Sheriff Javier Salazar to be the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in January 2017. She supervises the investigations of crimes against persons including: assaults, child abuse, elder abuse, robbery, rape and murder and crimes against property including burglary, theft, white collar crimes, cyber-crime and animal cruelty. Chief Sanford also supervises a Narcotics Unit under CID.
Sanford began her career in Law Enforcement as a Special Agent with the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Boston, Mass. in 1983. After completing Basic Agent Training in Glynco, Ga., Chief Sanford was transferred to San Antonio where she worked as a field agent for twenty-four years!
Promoted in 2008 as a Supervisory Special Agent in charge of a DEA State and Local Task Force and selected as Acting Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio District Office from 2014 to 2015. Sanford retired from the DEA as a Supervisory Special Agent in 2015.
Early in her career, Sanford worked undercover in San Antonio infiltrating major drug trafficking organizations and developing prosecutable federal cases. Later, she specialized in working with local law enforcement and led major gang investigations in San Antonio, including the Texas Mexican Mafia; the Texas Syndicate; and, the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
Since beginning her job as the Bexar County Sheriff's Office CID Deputy Chief, she was selected to the Board of Directors for ChildSafe. This is a nonprofit organization created to prevent child abuse, spread awareness and assist in the criminal investigations of child abusers by implementing a multi-disciplinary team comprised of therapists, counselors, SAPD and BCSO Investigators, CPS social workers, doctors, nurses and District Attorneys to facilitate the investigation/prosecution of child abuse cases in Bexar County.
She has also formed partnerships with the following organizations to prevent crimes against persons and property, spread awareness of crimes and prosecute the criminals: Battered Women's Shelter, Family Violence Prevention Services, Children's Shelter, Children’s Bereavement Center, Parents of Murdered Children, Assistance League of San Antonio, Roy Maas Youth Services, Centro Seguro, Adult Protective Services, Department of Family and Protective Services, Children’s Hospital, Angel Eyes Foundation, County Opioid Task Force and Alamo Drug Awareness and Prevention Team (ADAPT), to name a few.
While a federal agent, she participated in community outreach programs, including the Communities in Schools mentoring program, participating in Special Olympics events and selected as the District Office Coordinator for the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) Demand Reduction Program, which advocates for reducing the amount of drugs through drug awareness education for our children.
During her tenure as an Agent and Supervisor, Chief Sanford earned the following accolades: ASIS Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, AFNA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, US Attorney’s LECC Agent of the Year, Women in Federal Law Enforcement Case Agent Award and 12 DEA Superior Performance Awards.
Chief Sanford grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, attended Purdue University on an athletic scholarship where she studied criminal justice and sociology; in addition, she has been married for 26 years and has one daughter and two step-daughters.
Come hear the insider stories directly from the life of an investigator! Register today to hear Chief Sanford's full story!
Reserve your seat today!