Sheriff Bill Gore Highlights the Broad-Ranging Services the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Provides

Sheriff Bill Gore was our speaker at the June 7, 2017 meeting.  His San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is the third largest law enforcement agency in California, behind only the Los Angeles Police Department and the LA County Sherriff’s Department. He manages an annual budget of $865 million that allows the Department to provide law enforcement services to over one million individuals living in unincorporated areas of San Diego, as well as by contract to seven cities, including Del Mar. The Department also operates seven detention facilities such as the San Diego Central Jail and Las Colinas detention facility. Since their merger with the San Diego County Marshal’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department provides security services to San Diego county courts.

 

In his presentation, Sheriff Gore outlined several challenges the Department faces. One of the largest came in 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that California reduce its prison population. This ruling affected the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department in that its detention facilities began to house inmates who would have otherwise been sent to a state prison. Sheriff Gore also noted that mindset of correctional facilities is beginning to change from a “tough on crime” attitude to one that seeks ways to reduce the recidivism rate. In response, the Department has broadened its detention facility services, so that inmates receive mental health care, social services, and educational programming. Together these programs work to increase the likelihood that, upon release, inmates can successfully rejoin society.  He said that the Las Colinas women’s facility in Santee now serves a national model for how detention facilities can be better designed to deliver these services more effectively. 

 

Sheriff Gore ended his presentation by highlighting two of the Department’s outreach programs administered by the Senior Volunteer Patrol (SVP): The You Are Not Alone (YANA) program, which sends SVP officers to check on the well-being of homebound individuals; and free vacation checks conducted by SVP officers.  Other volunteer opportunities such as the Search and Rescue Detail are also available through the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

 

Sheriff Gore is a San Diego native and earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Public Administration from University of San Diego and Seattle University, respectively. He has spent over 44 years in law enforcement, 32 of which were with the FBI. His wife, Natalie, was one of the first female FBI agents in the United States. He was appointed as the 29^th Sheriff of San Diego County in 2009 and was elected to the post in 2010. He also is a member of the Rotary Club of San Diego.