San Diego County Sheriff's Office

The San Diego County Sheriff's Office (SDSO) is a law enforcement agency serving San Diego County, California. It was established in 1850. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the county and one of the largest sheriff's offices in the United States, with over 4,700 employees, an annual budget of over $1.1 billion, and a service area over 4,500 square miles extending to a 60-mile international border.

San Diego County Sheriff's Office
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Abbreviation	SDSO
Agency overview
Formed	1850; 174 years ago (1850)
Employees	4,000+ (2024)[1]
Annual budget	US$1,198,649,583 (2024)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	San Diego County, California, United States
San Diego County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction.
Size	4,200 square miles (10,900 km2)
Population	2,974,859
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	9621 Ridgehaven Court San Diego, CA 92123
Agency executive	Kelly A. Martinez, Sheriff
Facilities
Stations	18
Jails	8
Website
sdsheriff.gov

The office 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 office for municipal law enforcement and public safety services. Within these cities, traffic enforcement is also provided.

The office operates and provides detention facilities (jails), court services, and specialized regional services (air support, search and rescue, SWAT, etc.) to all of the county and the nine contract cities. The Wireless Services Division is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the San Diego County–Imperial County Regional Communications System. The Sheriff is elected by the voters of San Diego County. The current Sheriff is Kelly Martinez, who was elected in 2022 and took office at the beginning of 2023.^[2]

History

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department was formed in 1850.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department was a co-appellant in the Supreme Court of the United States and Ninth Circuit cases Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983),^[3][4] which held unconstitutional laws that allow law enforcement to demand that "loiterers" and "wanderers" provide identification; this continues to affect other offices nationwide.^[5][6][7]

On September 10, 2024, the agency's official name was changed to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.^[8]

Organization

Office of the Sheriff

• Public Affairs
• Intergovernmental Legislative Affairs
• Legal Affairs
• Senior Executive Assistant
• Division of Inspectional Services

Service bureaus

The San Diego County Sheriff's Office 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

• Major Crimes 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)
  • Dive Unit (Search and Recovery)
  • Reserves
  • Search and Rescue
  • Special Enforcement Detail (SED)/SWAT
• Special Investigations Division
  • Intelligence
  • Narcotics
  • Public Inspections
  • Street Gang/Narcotics

Patrol Stations, Substations and Field Offices

4S Ranch Substation 10282 Rancho Bernardo Rd San Diego, CA 92127

Alpine Station 2751 Alpine Blvd Alpine, CA 91901

Borrego Springs Office 571 Palm Canyon Dr. Borrego Springs, CA 92004

Boulevard/Jacumba Substation 39919 Highway 94 Boulevard, CA 91905

Campo/Tecate Substation 378 Sheridan Rd Campo, CA 91906

North Coastal Station (formerly Encinitas Station) 175 N. El Camino Real Encinitas, CA 92024

Fallbrook Substation 388 East Alvarado St Fallbrook, CA 92028

Imperial Beach Station 845 Imperial Beach Blvd Imperial Beach, CA 91932

Lakeside Substation 12365 Parkside St. Lakeside, CA 92040

Julian Substation 2907 Washington St, Bldg C Julian, CA 92036

Lemon Grove Substation 3240 Main St Lemon Grove, CA 91945

Pine Valley Substation 28914 Old Highway 80, #106 Pine Valley, CA 91962

Poway Station 13100 Bowron Rd Poway, CA 92064

Ramona Substation 1424 Montecito Rd Ramona, CA 92065

Rancho San Diego Station 11486 Campo Rd. Spring Valley, CA 91978

Ranchita Office 25704 San Felipe Rd, S-2 Warner Springs, CA 92086

San Marcos Station 182 Santar Pl San Marcos, CA 92069

Santee Station 8811 Cuyamaca St Santee, CA 92071

Valley Center Substation 28201 N. Lake Wohlford Rd Valley Center, CA 92082

Vista Station 325 S. Melrose, Ste 210 Vista, CA 92081

Court Services Bureau

Detention Services Bureau

• San Diego Central Jail (SDCJ)
• George Bailey Detention Facility (GBDF)
• East Mesa Reentry Facility (EMRF)
• Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility (LCDF)
• South Bay Detention Facility (SBDF)
• Vista Detention Facility (VDF)
• Facility 8 (FAC8)

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
  • Detentions and Court Services Academy
  • In-Service Training Unit
  • Regional Basic Academy
  • Weapons Training Unit (Range)

Management Services Bureau

• Data Services Division
• Wireless Services Division
• Contracts Division
• Fiscal Services

Vehicles

Salmon-colored 1966 Dodge Polara

Green-and-white Ford LTD Crown Victoria, in 1991.

Black-and-white second generation Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor in 2015

Black-and-white Ford Police Interceptor Utility in 2015

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Over the years, the agency's marked vehicles have sported unusual paint schemes. Originally in a traditional black and white, they transitioned to a pink-salmon color in the 1960s. From 1971 to 1991 the vehicles were painted kelly green-and-white which were the campaign colors of Sheriff John F. Duffy. When he retired the fleet was returned to the black-and-white color scheme and has remained so ever since. The office has also had a few all-white cars over the years, but these were for Traffic Enforcement and Volunteer Patrols only.

Today, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office utilizes the Ford Explorer as their base model for their fleet.

The SDSO also operates the Following Aircraft: Hughes 500, Bell 205, and Bell 407.

Weapons

• Glock 17 – standard-issue handgun equipped with a Streamlight TLR-1.
• Glock 22 .40 S&W – previously standard issue, being phased out.^[9]
• Glock 23 .40 S&W – used by detectives and other investigators, some regular deputies carry it as well as an off-duty weapon.
• Glock 27 .40 S&W – backup gun for deputies, used by some investigators as well as an off-duty weapon for some deputies.
• Colt CAR-15A1/A2 – R6520 variant used as a patrol rifle for deputies as is the R0603 (M16A1) variant can also be seen in patrol vehicles.
• Remington 870 12-gauge – standard-issue shotgun for deputies, is a pump-action shotgun.
• Springfield Armory M-14 – used for certain situations, is not the standard-issue rifle but the SDSO does have a few M-14s in the agency's inventory.^[10]

Sheriffs

1. Agoston Haraszthy, 1850–1851
2. George F. Hooper, 1852–1853
3. William Conroy, 1853–1854
4. M. M. Sexton, 1854–1855
5. Joseph Reiner, 1856–1857
6. D. A. Hollister, 1857–1858
7. George Lyons, 1858–1861
8. James McCoy, 1862–1871
9. Samuel W. Craigue, 1871–1874
10. Nicholas Hunsaker, 1875–1876
11. Joseph Coyne, 1876–1882
12. Edward W. Bushyhead, 1883–1886
13. Samuel A. McDowell, 1887–1890
14. John H. Folks, 1891–1892
15. Ben P. Hill, 1893–1894
16. Frank S. Jennings, 1895–1902
17. Thomas W. Brodnax, 1903–1906
18. Fred M. Jennings, 1907–1914
19. Ralph Conklin, 1915–1918
20. James C. Byers, 1918–1929
21. Edgar F. Cooper, 1929–1935
22. Ernest W. Dort, 1936–1941
23. Bert Strand, 1941–1962
24. Elmer Jansen, 1962–1963
25. Joseph C. O'Connor, 1963–1971
26. John F. Duffy, 1971–1991
27. Jim Roache, 1991–1995
28. William B. Kolender, 1995-2009
29. William D. Gore, 2009–2022
30. Kelly Martinez, 2023–present

Deputies killed in line of duty

1. Andrew Kriss, May 25, 1864, gunfire^[11]
2. Will Ward, November 27, 1899, assault^[12]
3. Thomas A. Fay, May 17, 1919, gunfire^[13]
4. Donn G. Witt, September 25, 1983, illness^[14]
5. Kelly Ann Bazer, January 13, 1986, gunfire^[15]
6. Lonny Gene Brewer, December 5, 1987, gunfire^[16]
7. Theodore L. Beckmann Jr., February 8, 1989, vehicular assault^[17]
8. Patrick Steven Coyle, February 16, 1997, aircraft accident^[18]
9. Ken Collier, February 28, 2010, vehicle pursuit^[19]

Rank structure

Title	Insignia
Sheriff
Undersheriff
Assistant Sheriff
Commander
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Corporal
Deputy Sheriff

See also

• California portal

• David Myers (police officer)
• List of law enforcement agencies in California

References

1. https://www.sdsheriff.gov/bureaus/about-us. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. "Kelly Martinez Steps In As Newly Elected San Diego County Sheriff". kpbs.org. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
3. "Kolender v. Lawson". United States Reports. 461. Supreme Court of the United States: 352. May 2, 1983.
4. "Lawson v. Kolender". United States Federal Reports. 2 (658). United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: 1362. Oct 15, 1981. Archived from the original on 2010-05-15.
5. "Judge Rejects New York's Stop-and-Frisk Policy". The New York Times. August 12, 2013.
6. "L.A. County Sheriff's Department violated rights of blacks, Justice Department says". Los Angeles Times. June 28, 2013.
7. "Investigation of Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Stations in Antelope Valley" (PDF). US Department of Justice. June 28, 2013.
8. "San Diego County's largest law enforcement agency takes a new name". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2024-08-30. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
9. "Report: 22 bullets fired in Vista deputy-involved shooting". 7 January 2006.
10. "Search: 1033 Program Equipment to San Diego-area police departments". www.inewsource.org. Archived from the original on 2014-09-16.
11. Kriss, Officer Down Memorial Page
12. Ward, Officer Down Memorial Page
13. Fay,Officer Down Memorial Page
14. Witt, Officer Down Memorial Page
15. Bazer, Officer Down Memorial Page
16. Brewer, Officer Down Memorial Page
17. Beckmann, Officer Down Memorial Page
18. Coyle, Officer Down Memorial Page
19. Collier, Officer Down Memorial Page

External links

• San Diego County Sheriff's Office Official Website
• San Diego County Sheriff's Official Recruiting Website
• San Diego County Honorary Deputy Sheriff's Association
• San Diego Sheriff's Museum
• County of San Diego Official Website