INFO needed on COCO Sheriff Dept. OR BART PD?

[he98ss]

Hello everyone! Just wondering if anyone has ANY (good or bad) information on either depts. I am currently working for an Orange County agency but I am originally from the Bay Area and planning to lateral to either BART PD or COCO Sheriff Dept. I have lived in SOCal for the past decade and do not have current knowledge as to how both departments truly are. All info I know about those departments are the info I read from their respective websites and from talking to the station recruiters.

Basically, I'm looking to hear to from others who have been living in the Bay Area so I can get opinions as to which department to sign with.


I have already checked the Search feature and was not able to really get current information as the threads or posts about BART PD were not answered and the posts about COCO Sheriff were from over a year ago.


THANK YOU
It's good to be back in NorCAl!!

[westcoast]

Search the forums even more, though a year old, the posts you found reflect major trends in the agencies. I can only speak about CoCo so here goes.....

In a nutshell, if you want overtime, lots of calls (Bay Station, Muir, Oakley, etc.), and can deal with working in the jails (not to mention a relatively crappy contract) then CoCo is your way to go. You say you are lateraling so you might be exempt from time working in the jails with CoCo. The groundpounders in the agency have a good rep, the admin....eh....a deputy that has great things to say about Rupf and his associates is hard to find. Further, CoCo has tons of stations, contract cities and special opportunities. The whole $70,000 your first year thing on the CoCo website is with overtime included. One last thing, about department culture. But in my experience (correct me if I'm wrong) OC agencies are pretty strict on traffic enforcement. Don't get onto county patrol with CoCo or even with a contract city and expect to be lauded for writing tickets up the wazoo. The men and women of that agency go after bigger things. Even in the lower-crime contract cities nobody but the tom-cars and motors writes a ton of tickets.

[sgttom]

BART has a very good department and programs within for their personnel.

BUT because BART spans through a few counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, SF and San Mateo WITH talks of expansion into Santa Clara county and Solano County). So, with the various counties, there different procedures for each county insofar as any bookings - and some smaller, little procedural things.

BART pays very well, is 3% at 50 and assignments are plentiful. Not many people leave BART for other agencies.

BART has many stations and patrol areas. Like CoCo SO, don't expect to write many citations (at least movers) and for each citation you write, you generate a report as well. BART is based out of Oakland, CA.

Chief Gee is very progressive and well respected within and outside of the Department.

[he98ss]

:) THANK YOU BOTH VERY MUCH!!. Just these 2 replies are worth a million to me and the decision I have to make!!!! Once again thanks!

[westcoast]

and for each citation you write, you generate a report as well.

Do you mean a stop card? or an actual report? I'm curious.

[BearCrawl]

Working for CoCo, I agree with the above posts. No kudos for traffic cites on county patrol. It's not our responsibility, but the stats are maintained and most try at least make an effort to show that we know how to write a mover. We also don't take traffic accidents, and can turn over DUIs to the CHP at out leisure or book them ourselves. The $70,000 first year salary does include overtime. Without ovetime it's $65,000.00. In all honesty, my first year out of the academy, I made $110,000. As a lateral however, you can fully expect to get hired at top step if you have the years of experience. And you can negotiate an initial assignment to patrol. The only complaint I have is the retirement contribution. It's higher than any other agency. But it is honestly offset by an incredible work atmosphere. I also feel like the Sheriff's Office provides an incredible amount of service to the community, and for the most part, in cities like El Sobrante, Rodeo, Bay Point, Discovery Bay and unicorporated San Pablo, we are genuinely appreciated.

BART PD takes home a higher paycheck and it's officers have always appeared to enjoy working there. But it is really a different job than the Sheriff's Office. You're not responding to the domestics, H&S complaints, and daily shootings. In my experience, BART officers also have to wait longer for cover and are more often relying on other agencies for code 2&3 cover.

[westcoast]

BearCrawl,

How quick did you make it out of the jails? And, which one(s) did you work? MDF, West County?

[BearCrawl]

30 months. When I came out, there were several deputies who came out with me who only spent 11 months in the jail. It's only based on detention time, no special "good old boy" system. Every quarter they take about 10-20 deputies to patrol. I've never seen anyone have to spend more than 40 months in the jails, unless they volunteered to stay in there. I worked out at West County. There's also the jail at Marsh Creek, in between Concord and Antioch.

[sgttom]

Westcoast:

Last I was told, an actual report (quick one pager)... (more than a stop card).


BearCrawl:

Your description of the two agencies, for the most part is accurate. BART does surprisingly, have their moments. They are only growing too in territory. Next stop - Santa Clara County then Solano County.

Side note:

CoCoSO: I only hope that the County kicks in more on the next negotiations..... Sucks that individuals have to kick in so much for their retirement. I have fond memories of working with the CoCoSO and the J team out in No Richmond / Parchester Village back in the day.

[Garbage Man]

Ref COCO SOand the not doin traffic thing isnt that standard for any Sheriffs office in unicorporated areas? In contract cities you function just like the city PD dont you? I mean The CHP wont take T/C report or DUI's in your contract cities will they?

I also see that they have a big add targeting retired Pers guys...some of it looked tempting. In five years I mean.

[BearCrawl]

Thats correct, GM. The contract cities operate just as any PD would, and they don't get to hand anything over to CHP.

They also call themselves officers, which of course, is a serious step down from a deputy. Okay, joking there.

The contract for CoCo is up for renewal this Octobers. I don't have my hopes up, but it would be nice to see a change in the actual amount of money we take home.

On the topic of BART, I expect them to be in Santa Clara and Solano real quick, and eventually Sac County.

[he98ss]

Thanks for the responses! I knew this forum would be handy! Be Safe out there.

[westcoast]

Last I was told, an actual report (quick one pager)... (more than a stop card).

Wow, that seems like a huge waste of time. What would you include? PC for the stop and how much the driver yelled at you? haha. j/k. I would prefer just saying "clear stop" on the radio.

End of the day, I think comparing BART to CoCo is comparing apples to oranges. A specialty PD versus a SO with twice as many sworn. It all comes down to what type of work you want to do. As for BART having its moments, I did witness a stabbing in Mission St Station once. The BART PD guys were all over it. Took control, stopped the train from leaving and got the perps before they made it down the escalator.

[LeeRoy]

A good friend of mine lateraled to BART. He describes it as a good agency with a variety of work locations but it certainly is different from being a city cop. He worked for a well off East Bay PD. He describes the BART union as having some strife right now. He said the general level of knowledge among the officers who came up in the ranks at BART as somewhat below where a city cop would be because they just aren't exposed to the same crimes and situations. He made it clear he wasn't knocking his peers just commenting that they would have a tougher time lateraling to a city agency than a city cop has lateraling to them.

The downside is that you might find yourself assigned to San Mateo or Pittsburg and depending on what side of the bay you chose to live could result in a bit of a commute.

Sounds like good equipment and he is currently proposing Tasers for the agency and he thinks he has admin talked into it.