The Brookings County Sheriffs Department is a law enforcement agency that protects residents lives and their property and suppresses criminal activities. It supports Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), which is an international education program that seeks to prevent the usage of illegal drugs, gang activities and violent behavior. The Brookings County Sheriffs Department has a K-9 team that handles searches for persons, buildings and evidence. The sheriff s department operates a detention center that provides a secure holding facility for legally confined individuals, including pretrial, presentenced and sentenced offenders. Located in Brookings, S.D., the Brookings County Sheriffs Department also supports a sex offender registry that provides information about offenders to the general public.