Sonoma County SD

[NO-Code]

Hey Y'all,

I am interviewing on March 2nd with Sonoma County SD and wonder if anyone knows anything that could help. (Or works there).

I will be doing a ride along this Saturday (day watch) and doing my research till the interview....

Any experience with the dept? From what I have heard form freinds in the industry they have a pretty good operation, decent pay for the area and decent morale.

Thanks for your help.

[Kilo19]

I used to be an Property Crimes intern at Sonoma County. Really good department. The are known throughout the county as being a tough group. They have to be.

The big thing with this dept. is being able to show that you are independant and are able to work without a lot of supervision. You have to be tough. Its not like working in a city where you have backup a reasonable distance away. You WILL get stuck at some point out in the "boonies" by yourself and dealing with dirtbags. And backup can be a long way out. That is why you will often see deputies rolling code 3 to a routine back up call simply because they are so spread out that it would take forever to get there otherwise.

Oh, and one more thing... think alot about why you want to work in Sonoma Co. in particular. They are proud of their dept and they want people who really want to work there. Not just people who randomly throw in applications.

Good luck to you and if you have any questions, feel free to message me.

[MikeI]

I went to basic traffic with a guy that was a Sonoma County Deputy. He talked highly of his Dept. I was impressed with his morale. They also seem to be pretty modernized in terms of equipment, but this was about 5 years ago, so who knows now. I know we sure don't get any laterals from them....

[NO-Code]

I did a ride along this weekend and liked what I saw. They are quite modern, the MDT was awesome compared to some that I have seen. The Deputy was motivated and offered good advice and insight. I am also in the process with Santa Rosa. I love the area and quality of life that is offered there. My ride along said I should "suspend" any backgrounds that I am in if I want SSD.... I don't really think that that would be a smart move on my part. I am interested in the region AND SSD.... not just SSD.

I saw a couple of things not to like but to deal with on my ride along too. The most prominent was cover. 1 car to a 100 Sq. mile beat is fine, this Dep.'s cover a week ago was 15 minutes out ....code. That is a problem with no tasers and all options on the table. Every SRPD guy I saw that day had a Taser on his belt. I am not saying I can't or won't fight... or that a Taser makes or breaks a fight..... It is just another option in the ELoF.

Admittedly the contact started as a dude w/ a gun.... and turned from good to bad. I think, and he said, he may have made an error in contacting w/o cover.... I don't know I wasn't there. I digress....

The surrounding agencies like SRPD look good to me too. I absolutley adore the region over there... Probably the best living in NoCal. Expensive, yes... but the pay is good for the region. Overall I liked what I saw from SSD and SRPD so we will see what happens at the interview. I got a high T score and should be ranked near the top after the interview.

No-Code

[DOAcop38]

If you are going Santa Rosa Pd, look up an officer Named Shellerrup-left LAXPD comm.enforcement back in the mid '90s with his family ( young kids)-never looked back and he too said he was happy with the move...........