|
About the Santa Clara
County Sheriff's Office
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has 586 sworn personnel and a budget
of $112,582,007. The Sheriff's Office serves the communities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga
and the unincorporated areas of the County. The Sheriff's Office also maintains contracts with the Valley Transportation
Authority and the Santa Clara County Parks Department for law enforcement services. With a total County population of approximately
1.7 million people, the Sheriff's Office has a service population of approximately 197,000. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office was founded in 1850,
making it one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the State of California. There have been twenty seven persons serving
in the capacity of Sheriff since 1850. The
Department is divided into 3 major bureaus; Field Operations, Support Services, and Administrative Services. In 1988 the County
created a Department of Correction, so the Sheriff's Office no longer maintains the County Jail system. However, the Sheriff
does provide supervisory positions within the Jail as well as staffing the Transportation Unit and Perimeter Patrol. In addition to these functions, the Santa Clara
County Sheriff’s Office maintains a number of specialized units such as Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT).
SERT is utilized in the resolution of extraordinary criminal events that are beyond the response capabilities of most individual
deputies and warrant a coordinated team approach. These may include hostage or barricaded gunman situations,
the service of high-risk arrest or search warrants, dignitary protection details and the like. Source: sccgov.org/portal/site/sheriff
|
|
 |
|
Linda Teigland Clark is a retired
Deputy Sheriff from Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. She served over 18 years, from 1981 to 1999.
She is the author of The Small Window: The Story of Hardluck's Beginnings. According to author Linda Teigland Clark, “I
grew up in a small farming community south of Mankato, Minnesota which is located on the Minnesota River (originally called
St Peter’s River) and the Blue Earth River. After receiving my Bachelor of Science degree from Mankato
State University, I set my feet on a wonderful and, yes, sometimes difficult, path to the person that I am today. While on this journey I have worn many hats: native
Minnesotan, California transplant, high school teacher, junior college instructor, Deputy
Sheriff, wife, mother, and now that of my Mother Lode Gold Rush living-history persona, Hardluck Lin. Along the way and sometimes
in spite of myself, I have learned one truth. It is the individual’s attitude toward life that drives
his or her choices and it is one’s choices that will shape his or her life, not the circumstances of one’s birth.
For the most part, everyone is gifted with the ability to choose and the freedom to exercise that
choice. To fail to choose is to choose to fail. So, choose well, my reader friend, but most of all, realize
that the choice and its consequences are yours. And remember: It was the North Wind
that made the Vikings!”
|
|
|
|
|
