| Agencyname: | San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department |
| Commonname: | San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department |
| Abbreviation: | SBCSD |
| Patch: | Patch of the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department.png |
| Patchcaption: | Patch of the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department |
| Flag: | Flag of San Bernardino County, California.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of San Bernardino County, California |
| Motto: | Dedicated to Your Safety |
| Employees: | 3,700 |
| Budget: | $693 million[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Divtype: | State |
| Divname: | California |
| Subdivtype: | County |
| Subdivname: | San Bernardino County |
| Map: | Map of California highlighting San Bernardino County.svg |
| Mapcaption: | Map of San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction. |
| Sizearea: | 20186sqmi. |
| Legaljuris: | San Bernardino County, California |
| Police: | Yes |
| Local: | Yes |
| Headquarters: | San Bernardino, California |
| Sworntype: | Deputies |
| Sworn: | 2,000 |
| Unsworntype: | Civilian employees |
| Unsworn: | 1,200 |
| Electeetype: | SBCSD Office of the Sheriff |
| Minister1name: | Shannon Dicus |
| Minister1pfo: | Sheriff |
| Minister2name: | Steve Higgins |
| Minister2pfo: | Interim UnderSheriff |
| Minister3name: | Rick Bessinger |
| Minister3pfo: | Assistant Sheriff |
| Minister4name: | Sam Fisk |
| Minister4pfo: | Assistant Sheriff |
| Stations: | 16 |
| Boats1: | 8 |
| Website: | https://wp.sbcounty.gov/sheriff/ |
The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department (SBSD) serves San Bernardino County, California, which is geographically the largest county in the continental United States and is headquartered in San Bernardino. SBSD provides law enforcement services to the unincorporated areas of the county and contract law enforcement services to 14 of the county's cities, including Rancho Cucamonga and Chino Hills, serving a total of 1,029,466 of the county's 2 million residents. The department also operates the county jail system, provides marshal services for the county superior courts, and has other specialized divisions to serve the citizens of San Bernardino County.[2] [3]
The Sheriff-Coroner is an elected office. However, in 2012 when then-Sheriff Rod Hoops announced his retirement, the Board of Supervisors appointed Assistant Sheriff John McMahon to the position. The Board made the appointment after determining that a special election for sheriff would be cost prohibitive ($3.5 million). McMahon was re-elected in 2014. The SBSD was featured on many episodes of the hit television series COPS, with the first 4 episodes being taped in the early 1990s.
When San Bernardino County was established in 1853, its first sheriff was a Mormon, Robert Clift, who served until 1857. On January 12, 1856, a volunteer militia unit known as the San Bernardino Rangers was organized under the command of Captain Andrew Lytle to aid the Sheriff in suppressing raids by Indians and the gangs of outlaws like the Flores Daniel Gang that plagued the County.[4] [5] Sheriff James S. Raser was elected in September 1857 but left in the Mormon exodus for Utah soon after and Joseph Bridger was appointed by the Supervisors to the office until elections were held again in September 1858. The winner in that election was James W. Mitchell, however on February 8, 1859, the Supervisors ordered that:
"... the District Attorney Commence Suit against James W. Mitchell, Sheriff and his sureties for the amount of delinquent Taxes."Subsequently, at a special meeting of the Supervisors on February 26, 1859, Valentine J. Herring was named to be sheriff of San Bernardino County until the next election in September 1859. V. J. Herring was still Sheriff during the Ainsworth Gentry Affair a couple of weeks after he lost the election to Charles Wesley Piercy. Piercy held the office from October 1859, until he resigned in October 1860 to run for the State Assembly and William Tarleton was appointed to take his place. In November 1860, Anson Van Leuvan who had come second to Piercey in the previous election was elected and served as the Sheriff from 1860 to 1862. He had difficulties enforcing the law in Belleville and the other boom towns of the Holcomb Valley gold rush and with the turbulence caused in the County by the secession crisis and the beginning of the American Civil War. Eli M. Smith elected in the fall of 1861, was known for his pursuit of a gang of horse thieves who had been operating in the county for several months stealing horses made precious by the wartime need for horseflesh. On one occasion Sheriff Smith rode into an outlaw camp, recovering a herd of stolen horses and arresting three thieves. By the end of his term in office he had convicted 18 men of horse theft and sent them to prison.
Sheriff Benjamin F. Mathews elected September 14, 1863, served from October, 1863 to October, 1865.[6] In September 1865 the outlaw James Henry of the Mason Henry Gang and his gang of rustlers, robbers and murderers were in the county, camped out near San Bernardino. John Rogers, a gang member sent to town to obtain provisions in San Bernardino, was captured after drunken boasting in the saloons of "Whiskey Point" by Sheriff Mathews and persuaded to disclose the gangs hideout. Sheriff Mathews and his posse guided by Rogers, found and surprised Henry camped along the San Jacinto River in Railroad Canyon, (then called San Jacinto Canyon), about twenty-five miles south of town. At sunrise on September 14, 1865, the posse approached cautiously but Henry awoke and fired three shots, striking one posse member in the foot. Henry died in a hail of gunfire, sustaining 57 wounds. His corpse was taken back to town, photographed and his body was displayed to the public in Old West fashion.[7] [8]
Some of the other men holding the office of Sheriff in the early years were George T. Fulgham was Sheriff from (1865 to 1869), Newton Noble (1869–1873), J. C Curry (1873–1877), William Davies (1877–1879), John King (1879–1882), J. B. Burkhart (1882–1884), Nelson G. Gill (1884–1885), Edwin Chidsey Seymour (1888–1892), James P. Booth (1892-1894), Charles A. Rouse (1894–1895), John C. Ralphs (1902–1915), J. L. McMinn (1915–1918).
In 2018, a jury awarded $33.5 million in damages to the family of Nathanael Pickett. At that time, this was the largest settlement awarded in the case of a police shooting in US history.[9]
Since the establishment of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, 16 officers and 1 K9 have died in the line of duty.[19]
| Officer | Date of death | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deputy Sheriff William Francis Smithson | Sunday, October 20, 1907 | Gunfire | |
| Town Marshall James Monroe West Jr | Monday, July 6, 1925 | Gunfire | |
| Police Officer Harry Samuel Thompson | Monday, June 10, 1935 | Gunfire | |
| Deputy Sheriff William Jackson Litz | Saturday, May 23, 1959 | Struck By Train | |
| Reserve Deputy Billy R Heckle | Monday, February 15, 1960 | Gunfire | |
| Lieutenant Alfred Elder Stewart | Friday, March 9, 1973 | Gunfire | |
| Deputy Sheriff Frank Marion Pribble | Sunday, July 6, 1975 | Gunfire | |
| Deputy Sheriff Clifford E Sanchez | Saturday, April 6, 1985 | Gunfire | |
| Deputy Sheriff Donald J Demeulle | Thursday, July 31, 1986 | Aircraft Accident | |
| Deputy Sheriff Keith B Farley | Saturday, April 12, 1987 | Automobile Accident | |
| Deputy Sheriff Russell Dean Roberts | Saturday, September 16, 1995 | Struck By Vehicle | |
| Deputy Sheriff Ronald Wayne Ives | Wednesday, September 1, 2004 | Motorcycle Accident | |
| Deputy Sheriff Gregory Alan Gariepy | Wednesday, June 22, 2005 | Automobile Accident | |
| Deputy Sheriff Daniel Jess Lobo Jr | Tuesday, October 11, 2005 | Motorcycle Accident | |
| Detective Jeremiah Alan MacKay | Tuesday, February 12, 2013 | Gunfire | |
| K9 Jojo | Wednesday, January 6, 2016 | Asphyxiation | |
| Sergeant Dominic Vaca | Monday, May 31, 2021 | Gunfire | |
| Corporal Armando Cantu Jr. | Thursday, November 18, 2021 | COVID 19 |
The SBCSD rank structure is as follows:
The current San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner is Shannon Dicus. Dicus replaced John McMahon on July 16, 2021.
Serving below the Sheriff is the Undersheriff. As in most counties, the undersheriff is second-in-command of the entire Sheriff's Department.
Beneath the Undersheriff are two Assistant Sheriffs. One Assistant Sheriff is in charge of Operations and the other is in charge of Support (administration and logistics).
SBSD is organized into Divisions. Each division is commanded by a Deputy Chief.
The divisions are:
This bureau operates the following divisions:
SBSD operates a total of 9 jail facilities throughout the county. The average daily inmate population is 5,600. In 2006, 107,606 people were booked into these jails. The bureau operates the following Type-II jails that are used for long term housing:[20]
This bureau provides law enforcement services to the densely populated southwest corner of the county, which includes parts of the San Bernardino Valley, Pomona Valley, Cucamonga Valley, and the communities in the San Bernardino Mountains.[21] This area also operates a Type I Jail booking facility.
This bureau provides law enforcement services to the large Mojave Desert portion of the county.[21] The deputies at many of these stations operate in remote areas. This area also operates 3 of SBSD's Type I Jail booking facilities.
The Emergency Operations Division provides operational, logistical, and management support services to field operations during large-scale emergencies. These support services are provided by two units within Emergency Operations; Aviation and Volunteer Forces. The Aviation Unit provides patrol, rescue, and fire operations capabilities. Volunteer Forces provides search and rescue, evacuation, disaster planning, emergency management and Department Operations Center coordination. Volunteer Forces also coordinates all law mutual aid resources in Mutual Aid Region VI on behalf of the Sheriff.
The Specialized Enforcement Division Crime Impact Team has responsibility for gathering intelligence, conducting investigations into violent crime offenders, and SWAT responsibilities. The team members are cross-sworn as United States Marshall's and work closely with them in apprehending fugitives across the country. The Crime Impact Team investigates serious crimes occurring in the county as requested by the stations/divisions, and as assigned by the commander.
The Arson/Bomb Detail investigates all suspicious fires within the sheriff's department jurisdiction including fire related deaths, insurance fraud, arson for retaliation, and arson to conceal other crimes or to destroy crime scenes. The Detail is also called upon by many fire agencies to assist with the investigation of arson related fires. The detail and its members are accredited by the FBI in handling explosive devices, military ordnance and unknown suspicious packages. The detail utilizes an explosives trained K-9 to detect many different explosive odors and powders. The detail maintains one of the largest police bomb ranges on the West Coast. It is used by local bomb squads, as well as others from throughout the southern California region, for training and the destruction of confiscated explosives, ammunition, and fireworks.
In addition to other duties, a majority of the Specialized Enforcement deputies are trained as SWAT operators. They train a minimum of 36 hours a month to include: marksmanship skills; rappelling from buildings, cliffs and helicopters; helicopter insertion skills; and stealth and hostage rescue tactics. SWAT team members possess specialty skills in explosive entries and entries using night vision equipment. The National Tactical Officers Association, in the Summer 2000 issue of The Tactical Edge, recognized SBCSD's SWAT team as one of the premier teams in the country. All specialty skills derived from SWAT are beneficial to members during their daily duties, which frequently bring team members in contact with violent and/or armed suspects.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's Regional Gang Unit consists of two Gang Enforcement Teams. These teams operate as a countywide gang suppression effort. Each team consists of Sheriff's Deputies, Probation Officers and members of the California Highway Patrol. The teams' focus is on identifying existing and newly emerging street gangs and gang members, tracking criminal gang activities, and assisting in the prosecution of gang members. The teams are actively involved in assisting the Department's Homicide Division and allied agencies with gang related homicides and shootings. The County's revitalization of S.M.A.S.H. and aggressive gang suppression efforts by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and local law enforcement agencies has resulted in an increased number of identified gangs and gang members.
Aviation provides services including general law enforcement support, surveillance, fire suppression, medical transport, and search and rescue duties. It operates the following aircraft:
In December 2003, Ricardo Cerna, a 47 year old criminal originally from Guatemala, committed suicide inside an interview room at the main police station. He was arrested for a traffic matter. Even though the California Highway patrol assisted in his arrest, no one did a proper search on him. The suicide was also recorded on video.[26]
