San Diego County, California Sheriff's Department

Infobox Law enforcement agency
agencyname = San Diego County Sheriff's Department
|250px
motto =
formedyear = 1850
country = United States
countryabbr =
divtype = State
divname = California
divdab =
subdivtype = County
subdivname = San Diego
subdivdab =
legaljuris = County
sworn =
non-sworn =
electeetype = Sheriff
minister1name = William B. Kolender
minister1pfo =
stationtype =
stations = 19
lockuptype = Jail
lockups = 8

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, commonly known as the SDSO, is the primary and largest law enforcement agency in San Diego County, California. It is composed of approximately 4,000 sworn deputies and civilian support personnel. The department was established in 1850 and has a service area which spans approximately 4,200 mi² (10,878 km²).

The SDSO provides general law enforcement and public safety services to all unincorporated areas of the county (traffic enforcement, accidents, and other traffic related issues are handled by the California Highway Patrol).

Nine incorporated cities within the county (Del Mar, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach, and Vista) contract with the department for municipal law enforcement and public safety services.

The department operates and provides detention facilities (jails), court services, and specialized regional services (such as air support, search and rescue, SWAT, etc.) to all of the county.

The Wireless Services Division is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the San Diego County-Imperial County Regional Communications System (RCS).

The current sheriff is William Kolender, the 28th sheriff of the County of San Diego, who was originally elected in 1994 in a heated race against then Sheriff Jim Roache. Kolender was re-elected 1998, 2002, and 2006, beginning his fourth term on January 1, 2007.

Organization

Office of the Sheriff

* Public Affairs
* Intergovernmental Legislative Affairs
* Legal Affairs
* Senior Executive Assistant

Service bureaus

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is organized into five service bureaus: Law Enforcement Services, Detention Facility Services, Court Services, Human Resource Services, and Management Services. Each bureau is managed by an Assistant Sheriff except the Management Services Bureau, which is headed by an Executive Director.

Law Enforcement Services Bureau

* Central Investigations Division
** Central Operations Detail
*** Computer And Technology Crime High-tech Response Team (CATCH)
*** Elder Abuse
*** Financial Crimes
*** Homicide Detail
** Family Protection Detail
*** Domestic Violence
*** Sex Offender Management Unit
*** Child Abuse Unit
* Communications Division
** Communications Center
* Emergency Services Division
** Arson/Explosives
** ASTREA (air support unit)
** Reserves
** Special Enforcement Detail (SED)/SWAT
* Special Investigations Division
** Intelligence
** Narcotics
** Public Inspections
** Street Gang/Narcotics
* Wireless Services Division

Court Services Bureau

Human Resource Services Bureau

* Personnel Division
** Background Investigations Unit
** Career Path Assessment Unit
** Recruiting Unit
* Professional Standards Division
** Internal Affairs Unit
** Risk Management Unit
* Training Division
** Corrections Academy
** In-Service Training Unit
** Regional Basic Academy
** Weapons Training Unit (Range)

Management Services Bureau

History and trivia

San Diego County's first sheriff after California obtained statehood, was a Hungarian prince.

Over the years, the SDSO's marked vehicles have sported unique paint schemes. Originally, they were the traditional black and white, then they were painted a pink/salmon color because the sheriff's wife wanted salmon colored cars. In the mid 1970's, the vehicles were done in a green-and-white color scheme because green was Sheriff John Duffy's favorite color. The cars were painted green & white until the cost and politics brought about the change back to the more traditional black-and white. The green-and-white paint scheme is commonly referred to as "Duffy green", having been started while John Duffy was in office. It was changed after Duffy left office and the new administration came in. The department also had a few all-white cars along with the Duffy Green cars, but these were for Traffic Enforcement only.

Past sheriffs

# Agoston Haraszthy, 1850-1851
# George F. Hooper, 1852-1853
# William Conroy, 1853-1854
# M. M. Sexton, 1854-1855
# Joseph Reiner, 1856-1857
# D. A. Hollister, 1857-1858
# George Lyons, 1858-1861
# James McCoy, 1862-1871
# Samuel W. Craigue, 1871-1874
# Nicholas Hunsaker, 1875-1876
# Joseph Coyne, 1876-1882
# Edward W. Bushyhead, 1883-1886
# Samuel A. McDowell, 1887-1890
# John H. Folks, 1891-1892
# Ben P. Hill, 1893-1894
# Frank S. Jennings, 1895-1902
# Thomas W. Brodnax, 1903-1906
# Fred M. Jennings, 1907-1914
# Ralph Conklin, 1915-1918
# James C. Byers, 1918-1929
# Edgar F. Cooper, 1929-1935
# Ernest W. Dort, 1936-1941
# Bert Strand, 1941-1962
# A. Elmer Jansen, 1962-1963
# Joseph C. O'Connor, 1963-1971
# John F. Duffy, 1971-1991
# Jim Roache, 1991-1994
# William B. Kolender 1995-present

ee also

* List of law enforcement agencies in California

References

External links

* [http://www.sdsheriff.net/ San Diego County Sheriff's Department Official Website]
* [http://www.sdchdsa.org/ San Diego County Honorary Deputy Sheriff's Association]
* [http://www.sheriffmuseum.org/ San Diego Sheriff's Museum]
* [http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/ County of San Diego Official Website]