The Southwest Operations Division provides professional and caring law enforcement services to more than 305,000 residents within our division. The seven contract cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano are all within the Southwest Operations area of responsibility. The geographic area of responsibility for the Southwest Operations Division covers over 72.6 square miles and encompasses portions of the southwest region of Orange County. The western portion of the patrol area is formed by the Pacific Ocean with 18 miles of coastline. Deputy Sheriffs in this division are assigned to patrol, motors, investigations, traffic enforcement, the Directed Enforcement Teams (DET), School Resource Officer (SRO) program, the Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT), the Behavioral Health Bureau, supervision, management, and other essential support functions. The Southwest Operations Division also provides Live Scan fingerprint services to the community. The Division averages over 1,400 entries annually, which are used for employment applications as well as the Department of Justice narcotic and sex offender registration.
The Sheriff’s Department’s goals include responding to calls for service in a prompt manner, protecting lives and property, maintaining the public peace and order, investigating criminal offenses and providing a wide variety of services directed at solving community problems and addressing local issues. Through collaborative efforts with our community partners, the Southwest Operations Division has succeeded in maintaining a high quality of public safety within its communities by guarding and acting against those who would commit crimes against our residents, businesses and visitors. In addition, the Sheriff’s Department contracts with the Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) to provide immediate on-scene support to victims of crime and survivors of tragedy.
The Division’s superior record of achievement is due to the collaborative efforts of everyone; from the Sheriff to all the department members who support the Southwest Operations Division as well as the partnerships developed with every component of the criminal justice system. None of it would be possible, however, without the close relationships that are maintained with community partnerships, businesses, and residents in the communities they serve. Together, the personnel assigned to the Southwest Operations Division continue to serve the citizens of South Orange County with professionalism allowing the region to be consistently ranked among the safest communities in California.
