Abbreviation SDSO Employees Approx. 4,000 | Formed 1850 | |
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Common name San Diego Sheriff's Department Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* County of San Diego in the state of California, U.S. | ||
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO), is the primary and largest law enforcement agency in San Diego County, California, and one of the largest sheriff’s departments in the United States: with over 4,000 employees, an annual budget of over $600 million, and a service area over 4,500 square miles extending to a 60-mile international border. The department, established in 1850, has over 4,000 sworn deputies and additional civilian support personnel servicing an area of nearly 4,526 mi².
Contents
- Office of the Sheriff
- Service bureaus
- Law Enforcement Services Bureau
- Detention Services Bureau
- Human Resource Services Bureau
- Management Services Bureau
- Vehicles
- Deputies killed in line of duty
- History
- References
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. Within these cities, traffic enforcement is also provided.
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 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 (RCS).
The sheriff is elected by the voters of San Diego County. The current sheriff is William Gore, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 2009 when Bill Kolender resigned, and then was elected to a full term in June 2010.
Office of the Sheriff
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
Patrol stations, substations and field offices
Detention Services Bureau
Human Resource Services Bureau
Management Services Bureau
Vehicles
Over the years, the sheriff's office'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 department has also had a few all-white cars over the years, but these were for Traffic Enforcement and Volunteer Patrols only.
Deputies killed in line of duty
- Andrew Kriss, May 25, 1864, gunfire
- Will Ward, November 27, 1899, assault
- Thomas A. Fay, May 17, 1919, gunfire
- Donn G. Witt, September 25, 1983, illness
- Kelly Ann Bazer, January 13, 1986, gunfire
- Lonny Gene Brewer, December 5, 1987, gunfire
- Theodore L. Beckmann Jr., February 8, 1989, vehicular assault
- Patrick Steven Coyle, February 16, 1997, aircraft accident
- Ken Collier, February 28, 2010, vehicle pursuit
History
The San Diego Sheriff department was formed in 1850, and since then it has served a diverse county consisting of many constituents with competing interests. San Diego Sheriff's department was a co-appellant in the very famous Supreme Court of the United States and Ninth Circuit cases Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983), which held unconstitutional laws that allow law enforcement to demand that “loiterers” and “wanderers” provide identification; this continues to affect other departments nationwide.