The San Diego County Sheriff's Office (SDSO) is a

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

serving

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

. 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. 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 The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

). Nine incorporated cities within the county ( Del Mar,

Encinitas Encinitas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. Located in Southern California, it is approximately north of San Di ...

Imperial Beach Imperial Beach is a beach city in San Diego County, California, United States, with a population of 26,137 as of the 2020 census. It is in the South Bay area of San Diego County, south of downtown San Diego and northwest of downtown Tiju ...

, Lemon Grove,

Poway Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city had a population of 48,841 as of the 2020 United States census. Poway is part of San Diego's Eas ...

, San Marcos, Santee,

Solana Beach Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "sunny side") is a beach city in San Diego County, California, on the South Coast. Its population was at 12,940 at the 2020 U.S. census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 census. History The area was first set ...

, and

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) 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 Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as Strafing, strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS r ...

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

, 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.

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 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

and

Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

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 offices nationwide. On September 10, 2024, the agency's official name was changed to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. On March 6, 2025, KPBS reported findings by the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

that Sheriff Kelly Martinez violated the state sanctuary law SB54 by transferring to

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

a felon who was still protected by the act because his conviction was more than the required 15 years old.

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)/

* 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

Over the years, the agency's marked vehicles have sported unusual paint schemes. Originally in a traditional

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with 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 The Bell 204 and 205 are the civilian versions of the UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopter of the Huey family of helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, i ...

, and

Bell 407 The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter. A derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, the 407 uses the four-blade, soft-in-plane design rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army's OH-58D Kiowa ...

Weapons

Glock 17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

– standard-issue handgun equipped with a Streamlight TLR-1. *

Glock 22 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

.40 S&W – previously standard issue, being phased out. * 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 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. De ...

12-gauge – standard-issue shotgun for deputies, is a pump-action shotgun. *

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

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.

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 # Augustus Cravath, 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 # Elmer Jansen, 1962–1963 # Joseph C. O'Connor, 1963–1971 # John F. Duffy, 1971–1991 # Jim Roache, 1991–1995 # William B. Kolender, 1995-2009 # William D. Gore, 2009–2022 # Anthony Ray 2022-2023 (Interim Sheriff) # Kelly Martinez, 2023–present

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 pursuitCollier, ''Officer Down Memorial Page''
/ref>

Rank structure

References

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
{{Authority control Sheriffs' departments of California Government of San Diego County, California Organizations based in San Diego County, California Government agencies established in 1850 1850 establishments in California