The Kern County Sheriff's Office is the agency responsible for law enforcement within the county of Kern, California, in the United States. The agency provides: law enforcement within the county, maintain the jails used by both the county and municipalities, and provides search and rescue. The Sheriff's Office contains over 1,200 sworn officers and civilian employees. Its jurisdiction contains all of the unincorporated areas of the county, approximately 8,000 square miles. The headquarters is located at 1350 Norris Road in Bakersfield. There are 15 additional substations located throughout the county. The metro patrol area is divided into four regions: north, south, east, and west.
Station and substations
The Sheriff's Office is headquartered at 1350 Norris Road in Bakersfield. There are 15 additional substations located throughout the county. They are:
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Kern County Sheriff's Office, 27 officers and citizen volunteers have died while on duty.
Electoral History
The current sheriff, Donny Youngblood, was reelected on June 5, 2018.
Rank Structure
Controversy
In 2006, Sheriff Donny Youngblood declared it was "better financially" for Kern County to commit a "bad shooting" and kill a suspect, then pay the family "three million bucks", versus them crippling a suspect and having to "take care of them for life". In December 2010, Jose Lucero, a recovering drug addict with mental health issues, died after a confrontation with Kern County Sheriff's deputies. The family contended that the deputies beat Lucero to death. In November 2012, Lucero's family was awarded a $4.5 million judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit against the deputies, the sheriff's office, and Kern County. On May 9, 2013, it was reported that Bakersfield resident David Sal Silva died after resisting arrest. The assault on Silva was video recorded by multiple witnesses, although the resultant video was seized by law enforcement on the scene. Silva's autopsy report uses the description "acute intoxication" to describe Silva's condition when he died. His blood alcohol level was 0.095, over the limit for driving a motor vehicle. The autopsy also found methamphetamine and amphetamine, both stimulants, in Silva's blood. In December 2015, press reports indicated Kern County law enforcement officers killed more people per capita than any other county in the United States. In May 2015, it was reported that the Kern Country Sheriff's Department settled two civil lawsuits in five days in misconduct cases. One settlement, reported to be in the amount of $1 million, was paid out to a survivor of a sexual assault committed by Kern County Sheriff's Deputy Gabriel Lopez. The Kern County Sheriff's office has been found to have a longstanding program of attempting cash payoffs to women who have accused deputies of sexual assault. On May 29, 2019, Chief Deputy Justin Fleeman was fired after having been placed on administrative leave on September 20, 2018. Fleeman unsuccessfully contested Sheriff Donny Youngblood in the June 2018 primary election. Fleeman's campaign made a point to expose corruption and ethics violations by Sheriff Youngblood and the Kern County Sheriff's Office. Youngblood in turn criticized Fleeman for attempting to ruin his reputation and the reputation of the department. In response to his firing, Fleeman filed a wrongful termination lawsuit which he hopes will unfold in court and result in "people seeing I was actually truthful during the campaign."
Weapons
Deputies are issued the Glock 22.40 S&W handgun which is usually equipped with a tactical flashlight and has night sights. In addition to the Glock pistols deputies also have access to AR-15 rifles as well. Deputies also have access to the Remington 870 pump shotgun.
