Riverside County Sheriff's Department

Riverside County Sheriff's Department
Abbreviation	RCSD, RSD, RSO
Patch of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Badge of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Agency overview
Formed	May 9, 1893
Annual budget	$502 million
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	County (US) of Riverside in the state of California, United States
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian agency
Operational structure
Headquarters	Riverside, California
Bureaus	4 Coroner & Courts Corrections Field Operations Support & Administration
Divisions	9 Administrative Services Coroner & Courts Corrections East Field Operations Professional Standards Public Information Office Special Operations Support Services West Field Operations
Facilities
Stations	12
Jails	5 Blythe Jail Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility Indio Jail Robert Presley Detention Center Southwest Detention Center
Website
Riverside County Sheriff's Department
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department (RCSD, RSD), or Riverside Sheriff's Office (RSO), is a law enforcement agency in Riverside County, California. Overseen by an elected sheriff-coroner, the department polices unincorporated areas of Riverside County as well as many of the incorporated cities in the county by contract (see contract city). 17 of the county's 26 cities, with populations ranging from 4,958 to 193,365, contract with the department for police services. The county hospital and one tribal community also contract with the department for proactive policing. Riverside County is home to 12 federally-recognized Indian reservations. Absent proactive policing and traffic enforcement, the department is responsible for enforcing criminal law on all Native American tribal land within the county. This function is mandated by Public Law 280, enacted in 1953, which transferred the responsibility of criminal law enforcement on tribal land from the federal government to specified state governments including California. The department also operates the county's jail system.

In addition to performing law enforcement and corrections roles, the department performs the functions of the coroner's office and marshal's office. In its coroner function, the department is responsible for recovering deceased persons within the county and conducting autopsies. When California reorganized its judicial system in the early 21st century and eliminated state marshal's offices, the department assumed responsibility for state courts within the county, providing court security and service of warrants and court processes. The department also provides services such as air support, special weapons teams for high risk critical incidents, forensics services and crime laboratories, homicide investigations, and academy training to smaller law enforcement agencies within the county and in surrounding counties.

History

Riverside County was created from portions of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties on May 9, 1893. In the early history of the county, the sheriff's office was a one-person operation. As the county grew in population, so too did the department, eventually transforming into a modern full-service law enforcement agency.

The department made national headlines on May 9, 1980, when five men armed with shotguns, an assault rifle, handguns, and an improvised explosive device robbed the Norco branch of Security Pacific Bank. Since dubbed the "Norco shootout," deputies responding to the bank robbery call, armed only with their pistols, confronted the perpetrators outside the bank and a prolonged gun battle and subsequent vehicle pursuit ensued. The aftermath of the incident left 33 patrol cars damaged or completely destroyed, one sheriff's helicopter shot down, three robbers imprisoned for life, two robbers dead, eight sheriff's deputies wounded, and one deputy killed in the line of duty.

Today the Riverside County Sheriff's Department is responsible for 7,303 square miles, spreading almost 200 miles in length, and embracing approximately 50 miles in width. This territory constitutes the third largest county in the state of California and is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey in total area. Vast changes have occurred in Riverside County since its inception. The population, having increased from 13,745 in 1893, to more than 2,189,641 in 2010, ranks it fourth in population among California's counties behind Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties respectively. Expanding to keep up with the county's explosive growth, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department is now the second-largest sheriff's department in California, with a staff of over 4,500.

County Jail System

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department operates the county's jail system. The Riverside County Jail provides short-term incarceration services for the county, jailing subjects arrested and charged with felony crimes pending their court disposition as well as those convicted of misdemeanor crimes and sentenced to less than one year of incarceration. Services also include transportation of prisoners if necessary related to court appearances, and transferring prisoners between jurisdictions such as other counties, states, or the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Jails are staffed by fully sworn deputy sheriffs as well as specialized correctional deputies. The county's jail system consists of the Robert Presley Detention Center (RPDC) in downtown Riverside, the Southwest Detention Center (SWDC) in French Valley near Murrieta, the Larry Smith Correctional Facility (SCF) in Banning, the Indio Jail, and the Blythe Jail.

Academy

The Riverside Sheriff's Academy is located at the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center (BCTC) near the March Air Reserve Base. Sheriff's academy training at BCTC is standardized and certified by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Trainees receive a minimum of 24 weeks of intensive training. The county's municipal police departments as well as other regional law enforcement agencies utilize the department's academy in training their own trainees. Upon successful completion of the academy, graduating deputy sheriff trainees also receive additional detention-specific training at the academy related to possible future jail assignments. BCTC is also the location of the sheriff's corrections and dispatch academies. In addition, BCTC provides ongoing advanced career training for the department and surrounding agencies.

BCTC is a public safety training center jointly operated by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the Riverside County Fire Department in cooperation with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California State Fire Marshall, the California Highway Patrol, and Riverside Community College.

Unincorporated Areas Served

Aguanga Anza Bermuda Dunes Cabazon Cherry Valley Chiriaco Summit Desert Beach Desert Center East Blythe Eagle Mountain East Hemet El Cerrito Glen Avon Highgrove

Home Gardens Homeland Horsethief Canyon Idyllwild Lake Tamarisk Lakeland Village Lakeview Lost Lake Mead Valley Mecca Midland Mira Loma North Shore Nuevo

Pedley Pine Cove Quail Valley Ripley Romoland Rubidoux Sedco Hills Sky Valley Sunnyslope Thermal Thousand Palms Valle Vista Winchester Woodcrest

Contract Cities Served

• Calimesa
• Canyon Lake
• Coachella
• Eastvale
• Indian Wells
• Jurupa Valley
• La Quinta
• Lake Elsinore
• Menifee
• Moreno Valley
• Norco
• Palm Desert
• Perris
• Rancho Mirage
• San Jacinto
• Temecula
• Wildomar

Also serves the Riverside County Regional Medical Center (contract fulfilled through the Moreno Valley Station), the Morongo Indian Reservation (contract fulfilled through the Cabazon Station), and the De Luz Community Services District (contract fulfilled through the Southwest Station).

Current and Past Sheriffs

• Stanley Sniff 2007–present
• Bob Doyle 2003-2007
• Larry Smith 1994-2002
• Cois Byrd 1986-1994
• Bernard Clark 1963-1986
• Joe Rice 1952-1963
• Carl Rayburn 1931-1952
• Clemens Sweeters 1924-1931
• Sam Ryan 1923-1924
• Frank Wilson 1907-1923
• P.M. Coburn 1899-1907
• W.B. Johnson 1895-1899
• Fred Swope 1893-1895

Organizational Structure

Bureaus

• Coroner & Courts
• Corrections
• Field Operations
• Support & Administration

Ranking Structure and Insignias

Title	Insignia
Sheriff
Undersheriff
Assistant Sheriff
Chief Deputy
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Investigator		There are three levels: Investigator, Lead Investigator, and Master Investigator; the latter two levels have a respective second and third echelon on the bottom.
Corporal
Deputy Sheriff	No Insignia

Divisions

• Administrative Services
• Coroner & Courts
• Corrections
• East Field Operations
• Professional Standards
• Public Information Office
• Special Operations
• Support Services
• West Field Operations

Stations

• Cabazon Station (serves the city of Calimesa, the unincorporated community of Whitewater, and the Morongo Indian Reservation)
• Colorado River Station (serves unincorporated territory outside the city of Blythe)
• Hemet Station (serves the city of San Jacinto and the unincorporated communities of Winchester, Idyllwild, Nuevo, and Homeland)
• Indio Station (serves the cities of La Quinta and Coachella)
• Jurupa Valley Station (serves the cities of Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, and Norco)
• Lake Elsinore Station (serves the cities of Wildomar and Lake Elsinore)
• Moreno Valley Station (serves the city of Moreno Valley and the Riverside County Regional Medical Center)
• Palm Desert Station (serves the cities of Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert)
• Perris Station (serves the cities of Perris, Menifee, and Canyon Lake)
• San Jacinto Police Department (sub-station)
• Southwest Station (serves the city of Temecula and the unincorporated communities of French Valley and De Luz)

Correctional Facilities

• Blythe Jail
• Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility
• Indio Jail
• Robert Presley Detention Center
• Southwest Detention Center

Other Facilities

• Aviation
• Coroner/Public Administrator
• Ben Clark Training Center
• Dispatch Center
• Sheriff's Administration
• Special Investigations Bureau

In Rememberence

A tribute to the Riverside County sheriff's deputies that made the ultimate sacrifice for their communities:

• Henry Fredrick Nelson - September 22, 1921
• Theodore Crossley - September 22, 1921
• Howard R. Scheffler - February 29, 1956
• Roger Allen Strong - August 7, 1961
• William Joseph Rutledge - May 14, 1969
• William Fredrick Carter, Jr. - May 20, 1969
• Edward Michael Schrader - July 11, 1974
• James Bernard Evans - May 9, 1980
• Dirk Alan Leonardson - October 4, 1980
• Michael David Davis - October 24, 1988
• Randy Robert Lutz - June 22, 1989
• Kent A. Hintergardt - May 9, 1993
• Michael P. Haugen - January 5, 1997
• James W. Lehmann, Jr. - January 5, 1997
• Eric Andrew Thach - October 8, 1999
• Brent Jenkins - March 18, 2003
• Bruce Lee - May 13, 2003
• Manuel Villegas - March 19, 2007

Most Wanted Criminals

• Julio Ceasr Cisneros - Child Molestation
• Jesus Rodriguez Torres - Attempted Murder
• Richard Stanley Howen - Sex Offender in Violation
• Jesse Rodriguez Diaz - Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child Under 14
• Gregorio Yanes Torres - Gross Vehicular Manslaughter
• Brian Montano - Attempted Murder
• Francisco Villa Escamilla - Assault with a Deadly Weapon
• Natividad Zamano Nunes - Gross Vehicular Manslaughter
• Apolinar Martinez DeSantiago - Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child Under 14
• Alvaro Dominguez Beltran - Assault on a Peace Officer
• Sergio Gutierrez Padilla - Murder
• Jorge Avilez Perez - Attempted Murder
• Leon Fredy Bojorquez - Murder
• Jose Martin Zepeda - Child Rape/Molestation
• Edward Lee LeBlanc - Murder
• Juan Hidalgo Aguilar - Murder
• Fermin Landa Mejia - Child Rape/Molestation
• Jose Antonio Michel Aceves - Murder
• Hans Joachim Berhorst - Child Molestation
• Javier Rodriguez Parra - Robbery/Kidnapping/False Imprisonment
• Walter Gastelum - Murder
• Reynaldo Richard Vasquez - Bank Robbery
• Jose De Jesus Legaspi - Assault with a Deadly Weapon
• Jorge Ponce Aguilar - Child Molestation
• Jose Luis "Gumby" Tovar - Armed Robbery/Attempted Murder
• Jeffrey Dean Galleher - Armed Robbery
• Sergio "Checo" Lopez Hernandez - Murder
• Jose Daniel Ostorga - Murder
• Alfredo Morales Rosas - Murder
• Hugo Cervantes Gastelum - Murder
• Juan Manuel Agredano - Murder
• Robert "Lil Rob" Carlos Cruz - Attempted Murder/Jail Escape
• Brian Richard Martin - Murder
• Jose Gabriel Giron - Murder
• Angel Jonathan Giron - Murder
• Miguel Angel Gonzalez - Attempted Murder
• Reyna Yanderina Navar - Attempted Murder

Updated March 2011

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in California

External links

• Riverside County Sheriff's Department
• Riverside Sheriff's Association
• Law Enforcement Management Unit
• Ben Clark Training Center
• Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit
• Desert Sheriff's Search and Rescue
• Palm Desert Police Department
• San Jacinto Police Department
• Moreno Valley Police Department
• Coachella Police Department
• La Quinta Police Department