By Ian Parkinson

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff 

The story of the Sheriff’s Office has a natural beginning. It started when San Luis Obispo County began in 1850. Every year, a new chapter is written. For many of those years, the public did not have a comprehensive understanding of all the functions of the Sheriff’s Office. I tried to change that when I was elected sheriff. I have always tried to be as open and transparent as possible with the public. To me, that’s democracy in action and is essential to a functioning, responsive government. I want you to know what the Sheriff’s Office is doing and, maybe more importantly, why we are doing it. 

As a result, we’ve improved the ways we get important information to you. Recently, we totally redesigned our website to offer more information and services. Our new features include a whole section on FAQs, otherwise known as Frequently Asked Questions, on topics like our jail, coroner’s office, records and warrants, and our civil division. Another new feature is a whole page of the website dedicated to employment opportunities at the Sheriff’s Office. It’s titled Join Our Team, and it highlights all the different aspects of working here. We have also updated several features on the site. For one, we’ve made the search function so much easier to use to find items of interest on our website. We’ve also made the website ADA-compliant for those with disabilities. And we’ve also made the website available in English and Spanish. 

One of the features you’ll find on our website is our annual report. We’ve been providing an annual report for the last 13 years. First in hard copy and then later we transitioned to putting the annual report on our website. Our newest edition was recently released. It provides a glimpse into what happened in our county and the Sheriff’s Office last year. 

It is chock-full of information. But you won’t find a boring recitation of facts and figures. It’s one that’s easy to read with graphics and photos that help tell the story of the Sheriff’s Office. You’ll find narratives on the different units of the Sheriff’s Office, like our detective division, crime lab, bomb task force, K-9 unit, marine enforcement unit, gang task force, and many more. Additionally, we showcase our volunteer units like aero squadron, search and rescue, dive team, and volunteer patrol.

Here are some fast facts for you courtesy of our annual report. We serve more than 120,000 people spread out over 3,300 square miles. Last year alone, we handled almost 130,000 calls for service. With our staff of 170 sheriff’s deputies, 156 correctional deputies, and 134 professional personnel, we ended up making 1,777 arrests, wrote more than 9,000 reports, seized more than 12 pounds of Fentanyl, conducted more than 300 coroner death investigations, and had just over 8,000 inmates booked into county jail. 

But I don’t need to tell you that. All you have to do is go to our website at slosheriff.org and click on About Us and then choose annual report in the drop-down menu. Each of our units, divisions, and teams have a different mission. Buttogether they tell the whole story of the Sheriff’s Office.  

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