# 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.
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.

## 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), 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 that Sheriff Kelly Martinez violated the state sanctuary law SB54 by transferring to ICE 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)/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

#### 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, 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.
* 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.

## 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
* 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
* 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 pursuit

## Rank structure

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