Orange County Sheriff Hutchens, Speaks at PI – Irvine
Department History
The history of Orange County goes back further than the past 100 years and is a tribute to the adventurous spirit, personal drive and tremendous courage of the early explorers and settlers who’s vision and fortitude made cities where there were only dreams. In any society, there are always challenges, but the pioneer men and women who forged Orange County out of a barren land had the courage to overcome the obstacles that stood in their path.nd other organizations. A delicious Turkish style meal was served for lunch after the Q&A session.
It wasn’t until California became a state in 1850 that formal law enforcement institutions, based on the common law of England, became established. Even then, Southern California was a lawless society until the 1870s, plagued by rustlers, highwaymen, murderers, robbers and swindlers. Many made their headquarters in Los Angeles, blatantly defying the law and its traditional keepers-sheriff, jailor, judge and jury. Impromptu, poorly organized vigilante groups supplemented formal law enforcement officials, often taking the law into their own hands, but even these groups were ineffective.
The growth of communities, the increase in the number and proximity of small farms and the improvement of both education and communication systems finally brought lawlessness under control. Each formal community had its marshal, its constable and its judge and when Orange County was formed in 1889, its citizens had a sheriff, directly responsible to them, and a new set of institutions right in their own backyard.
The mission and core values of the Sheriff Department reads as Mission and Core Values
The men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department are dedicated to the protection of all we serve. We provide exceptional law enforcement services free from prejudice or favor, with leadership, integrity, and respect. Core Values are Integrity without compromise; Service above self; Professionalism in the performance of duty; Vigilance in safeguarding our community.
The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department is committed to its mission of providing a safe environment, as well as providing professional, responsive, and caring law enforcement services for all residents, businesses and visitors in Orange County. We believe a safe community can best be achieved through a partnership with our employees, residents, businesses, contracting partners and other public entities. We strive to provide all services in an expeditious, effective and courteous manner while encouraging community participation in the development of goals and objectives for our organization. We will aspire to be leaders and a national model in all aspects of law enforcement, homeland security, jail operations and fiduciary management.
Sandra Hutchens is the 12th Orange County Sheriff and the first to be selected by the Board of Supervisors to serve out the term of a sheriff who retired. She was selected from a field of 48 candidates after a nationwide search. Her term will continue until January 2011.
Sheriff Hutchens was born in Monterey Park and raised in Long Beach, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High. After graduating from the Basic Training Academy, she was sworn in 1978. Deputy Hutchens was first assigned to the Sybil Brand Institute, a women’s jail, and subsequently to the Lynwood Station and the Metropolitan Bureau. She promoted to Sergeant in 1986 and returned to Sybil Brand and then Temple Station, Field Operations Region I Headquarters and the Office of the Undersheriff.
In 1994 she promoted to Lieutenant and, once again, she was assigned to Sybil Brand. After her tour at Sybil Brand she worked as Watch Commander and Operations Lieutenant at the Norwalk Station. She was promoted to Captain in 1999 and was named Commander of the Norwalk Station.
Her next promotion was to Commander in 2001 and she was placed in command of Field Operations Region II and as Sheriff Lee Baca’s Executive Assistant. Sheriff Baca named her Chief of the Office of Homeland Security in July 2003. Chief Hutchens became involved with all aspects of local homeland security for the County of Los Angeles and commissioner on the Los Angeles County Emergency Preparedness Commission. She commanded more than 1,000 personnel and supervised police service contracts for 40 cities. Her units included Aero Bureau, SWAT, K-9, mountain search and rescue and the Transit Service Bureau, which polices MTA and Metrolink.
Chief Hutchens was also involved in the Community Law Enforcement Partnership Program, responsible for coordinating crime prevention, Town Hall meetings, and community relations. She was an instrumental leader in the development of the Joint Regional Intelligence Center, a convergence of the Department of Homeland Security, Los Angeles County Sheriff, LAPD and the FBI. This created a much needed central repository for intelligence information.
Her career at LASD also included serving as Legislative Liaison in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. She developed cross-cultural and community relations skills; and a diverse education, including counterterrorism training in Israel, FBI National Academy training, participation in the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative Program at Harvard University, and Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne.
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens spoke at Pacifica Institute about the State of Orange County Sheriff’s Department. She is the first female sheriff to serve in the department’s history. She said that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is the second largest sheriff’s department in the nation and it is a large, multi-faceted law enforcement agency composed of approximately 4,000 staff members and over 800 reserve personnel. Several weeks ago she witnessed the swearing in ceremony of 41 deputies to the department. She added that the Department consists of five organizational functions divided into 20 divisions. The core services provided by the Department are: Public Protection, including patrol of land, harbors and coastline, homeland security, court and airport security, and emergency communications; Jail Operations; Technical Services including investigations, coroner services, forensics, emergency management and centralized Countywide communications systems; and Adminstrative and Support Services.
Sheriff Hutchens said that the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department is known for its professionalism, highly trained personnel, and cost effectiveness. With a budget of over 700 million dollars, because of the recent economic downturn there is the shortfall of 60 million dollars in the department so the department is cutting back on some expenses to make it fiscally safe to next year.
In addition to patrolling the unincorporated areas of Orange County, 12 cities in Orange County contract with the Department to serve as those cities’ police departments. The Department provides security services for many agencies in Orange County including Orange County including the Orange County Superior Court, John Wayne Airport, Orange County Transportation Authority, Social Services Agency, and Health Care Agency. Recently Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department employees are receiving courses from the well organized training courses of OCSD.
Sandra Hutchens also said that the Department is proud to report that, when polled, 97% of our clients, the residents living in areas that we patrol, feel safe in their homes and communities. In addition, the areas patrolled by the Department are statistically the safest in the State when compared to areas of similar population and delivery of service.