The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is the state’s fourth-largest law enforcement agency, with over 4,100 full-time employees and more than a thousand reserve and volunteer members. In addition to providing law enforcement services to county citizens, 13 of the county’s 24 cities contract for police services from the Sheriff’s Department. The department also provides augmented law enforcement services to two Native American tribes residing on unincorporated county land. The County operates five separate jails, each currently at or exceeding capacity. With over 3,000 serious offenders in our county corrections system, Riverside County has the 14th largest correctional system in the United States. Security of the courts is also the responsibility of the Sheriff’s Department.
The department processes and serves orders and warrants issued by the courts and enforces the civil process prescribed by law. The Sheriff's Department received over 1.7 million calls to its 911 dispatch centers in 2008 and dispatched patrol deputies to more than 822,035 service calls - a new county record. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is also the lead agency in the county for Homeland Security. A full-time Special Enforcement Bureau is headquartered in Banning and serves the entire county in times of natural disaster, emergency, or compromised national security. This team has 28 members and is capable of handling multiple incidents. The Sheriff's aviation unit flies over the county in a fleet of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. The B-3 Eurocopter is the fleet’s mainstay and is capable of airborne rescue and recovery operations. The Sheriff's Hazardous Device Team responds to calls for service on bomb threats, suspicious packages, and numerous other highly technical incidents.
The department also oversees coroner and public administrator bureaus, special investigations, homicide, ID, forensics, computer and technology crimes, technical services, media and public relations, chaplain’s corps, scuba, K9, off-highway vehicles (OHV), and lake and Colorado River patrols. Additionally, the department assists the public through Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) and Drug Endangered Children (DEC). The Ben Clark Training Center (BCTC) is a unique collaboration between the Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside County Fire Department, and partners including California Department of Forestry, California Highway Patrol, and Riverside Community College. The center, located on 365 acres of land that were formerly part of March Air Force Base, provides comprehensive public safety training programs to emergency response personnel. The center offers basic academy training through advanced coursework and specialized training for law enforcement, fire, and paramedic programs. BCTC is recognized as a regional training center and is establishing relationships with federal and academic institutions for the development of a Homeland Security degree program. Future development at the center will include a scenario village for realistic training, a student resource center, and an emergency vehicle operation center.
Coroner's:
The Riverside County Coroner’s Office has the responsibility of investigating and reporting on all sudden deaths within the County, particularly deaths resulting from all types of violence. Deputy Coroners (Coroner's Investigators) conduct investigations in order to ascertain how and why death occurred. The Forensic Staff (Coroner Technicians and Forensic Pathologists) retrieve any information from the body that will aid in establishing the means and mode of death, as well as identification of the remains. During an autopsy – a key component of the Coroner’s job – the body and all internal organs undergo a thorough examination. The decedent’s medical history is reviewed, and a cause of death is determined. Normally, a complete autopsy will take between 45 minutes and two hours to complete, depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, in cases involving multiple injuries, the autopsy can last hours or days. The Coroner’s Office does not take its responsibilities lightly. Coroners’ reports can, in many cases, provide the evidence to lock up a suspect or set one free. The findings from an autopsy may be of value to family members faced with the same disease, and to insurance companies and attorneys.
For more information, please visit: http://www.riversidesheriff.org/.