One thing to keep in mind that Sheriff's Deputies, at least in my experience can be a very mixed lot. True Barney Fife material some of them. I'm sure there are some good ones out there, but I had a very specific experience involving one that made Barney look like J. Edgar Hoover.
I was once working in a small ER in a small town in Texas. Some guy was brought in that was shot in the leg. Turns out one of the local deputies was involved in some kind of a love triangle - the idea was that the deputy and the victim were both pursuing the same filly.
So an altercation occurred and the deputy shot the guy - in the leg.
And I think in this case being a deputy was an unpaid position - basically gave him a reason to go around packing.
I always took a dim view of sheriff's deputies after that.