John Garcia, Sheriff
William Cooley, Undersheriff

10 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, NY 14202
716 858-7608

Sheriff John C Garcia became Sheriff of Erie County on January 1st of 2022. After graduating from Buffalo State, John Garcia joined the City of Buffalo Police Department. His tenure Buffalo Police included roles as uniformed police officer, gang suppression unit officer, district detective, narcotics detective, homicide detective, Commander of the Crisis Management Team and Commander of the Dignitary Protection Team.

Sheriff Garcia was born in Spain. At that time the Fascist Dictator Francisco Franco ruled Spain. John Garcia’s family emigrated to the United States. They found a home and opportunity in Erie County. Sheriff Garcia learned the English language and thanks to his parent’s commitment he maintained and enhanced fluidity of the Spanish language. His bilingualism proved to be extremely valuable asset to his work with the Buffalo Police Department.

Upon John Garcia’s retirement from the Buffalo Police Department in 2019 he established 716 Security and Investigations, a private company that focused on security and investigations. He was responsible for all aspects of the business day to day operation as well as new client development.

Sheriff Garcia is Erie County’s 54th Sheriff and only the 5th person to serve as Erie County Sheriff in the past 45 years.

Erie County has a population of 921,390 and an area of 1,046 square miles.