Command Staff

Jeriel D. Heard - Chief

From May 2005 until present, Jeriel Heard has been serving as the Chief of Jails and Courts, Office of the Sheriff, Wayne County, Michigan. From February 2003 until May 2005, Jeriel Heard was employed as Associate Director for the Youth Connection dba Mayor’s Time, an Urban Health Initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson and The Skillman Foundations. From May 1997 through December 2002, Mr. Heard was an Assistant Wayne County Executive and Director of the Wayne County Department of Community Justice. Prior to that position, Mr. Heard held the position of Deputy Director of the Department of Community Justice from 1991 to 1997.

Commander Heard has overseen the administration of over seventy million dollars in federal and state grants to deliver habilitative services, including alcohol and other drugs treatment to adult offenders in Wayne County.

In 1995, the County Executive Edward H. McNamara designated the Department of Community Justice as the county agency responsible for the delivery of juvenile justice services, including early intervention and prevention services to youth in at-risk environments.

Mr. Heard is credited with implementing alcohol and other drugs screening, assessment, referral, follow-up and treatment services for youth admitted to Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility and other juveniles under the jurisdiction of the Third Judicial Circuit Court, Family Division. Also, Mr. Heard is credited with designing the Wayne County, Michigan, Juvenile Justice System of Care, implemented in February 2000.

Commander Heard is a graduate of Wayne State University and Northwestern University, School of Staff and Command.

He has served as a member of the Detroit Bureau of Substance Abuse Advisory Council. Youth Advisory committee of the Youth Council for the City of Detroit Workforce Development Board, Wayne County Human Services Coordinating Body and the Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence.

The many awards and recognitions include the Director’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Law Enforcement from the U.S. Department of Justice-Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys in October 2000.

Commander Heard is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Project on Effective Delinquency Programs. Also, Mr. Heard is currently the Chairperson of the Governor’s Committee on Juvenile Justice, and Michigan’s first appointed representative to the Federal Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, inaugurated in January 2004.