Santa Barbara County Bill Brown Stations Sheriff - Coroner Headouarters Buellton*

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office does not comply with the county policy requiring the annual reporting of take-home vehicle information. Response to Finding 3: The Sheriff’s Office partially disagrees with this finding. The responsibility of the sheriff is to insure the safety of both the public and his deputies. On occasion that responsibility requires that the Sheriff's Office modify or deviate from practices that may be in common use elsewhere, if adherence to those practices could jeopardize the safety of law enforcement officers and the public. For example, the State recognizes that there is a compelling need to maintain confidentially on the home addresses of peace officers. An exception to State law permits law enforcement officers to list their work rather than their home addresses on their driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations. In this case it is our position that the Sheriffs Office is in substantial compliance with County policy regarding take-home vehicles. To fully comply by completing forms on each vehicle would create a potential danger to the public’s safety by disclosing the name of the driver, make, model, license number and storage address of take-home vehicles assigned to deputy sheriffs, some of whom work in an undercover capacity.