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
