Myth vs. Fact: Does a deputy sheriff have authority outside unincorporated county areas?

03/24/2013

In an on-going effort to serve the community in the most professional and responsive manner possible, the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station has initiated a social media based community outreach program entitled "Myth vs. Fact: The Law and You."

The purpose of this program will be to provide weekly legal and/or sheriff's department policy information to the community through the use of social media. The community will also be afforded the opportunity to e-mail questions directly to the station for discussion or clarification.

This week's topic: Does a deputy sheriff have authority outside unincorporated county areas?

Some people are under the mistaken belief that the authority of a deputy sheriff does not extend beyond unincorporated county areas. This is not true. Consider the following California Penal Code section:

830.1. (a) Any sheriff, undersheriff, or deputy sheriff, employed in that capacity, of a county, any chief of police of a city or chief, director, or chief executive officer of a consolidated municipal public safety agency that performs police functions, any police officer, employed in that capacity and appointed by the chief of police or chief, director, or chief executive of a public safety agency, of a city, any chief of police, or police officer of a district, including police officers of the San Diego Unified Port District Harbor Police, authorized by statute to maintain a police department, any marshal or deputy marshal of a superior court or county, any port warden or port police officer of the Harbor Department of the City of Los Angeles, or any inspector or investigator employed in that capacity in the office of a district attorney, is a peace officer. The authority of these peace officers extends to any place in the state, as follows:



(1) As to any public offense committed or which there is probable cause to believe has been committed within the political subdivision that employs the peace officer or in which the peace officer serves.



(2) Where the peace officer has the prior consent of the chief of police or chief, director, or chief executive officer of a consolidated municipal public safety agency, or person authorized by him or her to give consent, if the place is within a city, or of the sheriff, or person authorized by him or her to give consent, if the place is within a county.



(3) As to any public offense committed or which there is probable cause to believe has been committed in the peace officer's presence, and with respect to which there is immediate danger to person or property, or of the escape of the perpetrator of the offense.



(b) The Attorney General and special agents and investigators of the Department of Justice are peace officers, and those assistant chiefs, deputy chiefs, chiefs, deputy directors, and division directors designated as peace officers by the Attorney General are peace officers. The authority of these peace officers extends to any place in the state where a public offense has been committed or where there is probable cause to believe one has been committed.



(c) Any deputy sheriff of the County of Los Angeles, and any deputy sheriff of the Counties of Butte, Calaveras, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, and Tuolumne who is employed to perform duties exclusively or initially relating to custodial assignments with responsibilities for maintaining the operations of county custodial facilities, including the custody, care, supervision, security, movement, and transportation of inmates, is a peace officer whose authority extends to any place in the state only while engaged in the performance of the duties of his or her respective employment and for the purpose of carrying out the primary function of employment relating to his or her custodial assignments, or when performing other law enforcement duties directed by his or her employing agency during a local state of emergency.

With this information in mind, remember that although deputies generally enforce the law within the areas they are assigned to patrol, their authority extends to virtually anywhere in the State of California.03/21/

For additional questions or comments about anything discussed in this topic, please feel free to e-mail South Los Angeles Station at slamediarelations@lasd.org



South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

(323) 820-6700

http://www.southla.lasd.org

SHBNewsroom@lasd.org

www.Nixle.com

http://nixle.com/lasd----hq-newsroom-shb-los-angeles-county-sheriff/

Twitter @LASD_News http://twitter.com/#!/LASD_News

http://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment



Sheriff Leroy D. Baca

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department



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Address/Location

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4700 W Ramona Blvd

Monterey Park, CA 91754

Contact

Emergency: 9-1-1

Contact Information: Lieutenant Jeff Adams - (323) 820-6700,