The Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation which raises funds for the benefit of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office, donated new riding helmets to members of the Sheriff’s Mounted Enforcement Unit. 

The Posse was formed by local citizens to find ways to help the Sheriff’s Office improve efficiency, performance and morale by helping to fill the gap between the counties expanding law enforcement needs and constrained county budgets. The Posse routinely funds ongoing D.A.R.E. education in elementary schools, supports the Sheriff’s K9 and Mounted Enforcement Unit programs, as well as a variety of specialized equipment and training needs of the Sheriff’s Office.

The Mounted Enforcement Unit is a team comprised of Sheriff’s deputies who perform law enforcement activities from horseback. They routinely patrol at county parks, special events, directed enforcement activities and are often used for crowd control in largescale events or in times of civil unrest. 

Equipment for the Mounted Enforcement Unit is received in large part through donations or other surplus supplies. The donation of new, purpose-made riding helmets manufactured by the Super Seer Corporation, will allow mounted officers to have a single helmet that can be used for routine patrol environments, as well as crowd control and civil unrest situations. 

“Prior to this donation, team members had two helmets, one for routine patrol use, and another for crowd control situations,” Mounted Unit Commander Erik Raney said. “The new Super Seer helmets are specially designed for Law Enforcement Equestrian Units, and serve both functions.”

“We are truly grateful for the ongoing support that the Mounted Unit has received from the Posse. The entire Sheriff’s Office benefits from the Posse’s support, which in turn, allows us to improve the service we provide to our communities.”  

For more information on the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse, visit its  website at www.sbsheriffsposse.org.    

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The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse, a 501(c)(3) corporation which raises money to assist the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, provided a donation of $10,000 recently, with specific instructions that it should be used to purchase supplies and personal protective equipment for Sheriff’s personnel. 

Members of the Benevolent Posse’s Board of Directors presented the donation to Sheriff Bill Brown at Sheriff’s headquarters. The Sheriff’s Office plans to use the donation to purchase much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for line-level staff who work in patrol and custody settings, as well as necessary supplies to keep all of the employees at the Sheriff’s Office safe, such as masks, hand sanitizer and disinfecting supplies.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office budget is limited, so it relies on donations to fund certain programs and equipment items that are beyond budget resources. 

“The Posse is a group of incredibly dedicated philanthropists who seek donations and grants to benefit the Sheriff’s Office,” Brown said. “Because of their extraordinary generosity we are able to provide programs and resources to our people and our communities that would otherwise not be available.” 

The Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse raises funds annually to support the D.A.R.E. and Explorer programs, and Sheriff’s K-9 and Mounted Enforcement units. The Posse has also purchased important protective equipment and supplies for the department, including helmets and protective vests for the Custody Operations Special Operations Response Team, ballistic vests for the department K-9’s, and contributions towards the purchase of the Hostage Negotiations Team command post vehicle, to name a few. 

“The Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse owes a deep debt of gratitude to the donors to the Posse —especially the anonymous donor who donated this $10,000 with the specific request that it be used for COVID-19 protective equipment,” said Sara O’Shaughnessy, the president of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse. “It’s only due to generous donors like this that the Posse is able to assist the Sheriff’s Office in filling their unfunded, urgent needs.”  

For more information about the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse and ways to support your Sheriff’s Office, please visit https://www.sbsheriffsposse.org. 

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Staff Report

A Sheriff’s Department auxiliary group has launched “Project Deputy Dog,” a new fundraising effort to add two “K-9” deputies and pay for their training and other expenses.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse also hopes to raise enough money for the future purchase of additional replacement canines as the dogs reach the end of their service life at around 8 years old.

Project Deputy Dog seeks to raise about $160,000. In addition to the purchase of specially bred dogs, the program would fund basic law enforcement training, specialized training for tracking, narcotics and bomb detection, other important continuing training, food and veterinary care, specialized equipment and other needs.

The effort is being led by Posse board member Sue Pohls of Solvang, who learned of the needs at the Sheriff’s Office canine demonstration during last year’s Posse fund- and barn-raising event for the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Enforcement Unit.

“This is a cause it’s easy to get passionate about, especially for any of us who are dog lovers,” she said. “It combines a tremendous law enforcement asset to help protect all of us who live in Santa Barbara County and provides these dogs with a job and mission that they are enthusiastic about.”

One of the sheriff’s four patrol operations dogs is getting close to retirement, which creates an urgent need to add an additional K-9 that is trained in patrol, tracking, and bomb and explosive detection. The additional dog would allow for two narcotics-trained and two bomb-trained canines in the county and would allow for 365-day coverage for all of Santa Barbara County.

The additional dog, which Project Deputy Dog hopes to fund, would be for a narcotics-detecting K-9 assigned to the county’s custody facilities to detect illicit narcotics, a job now handled by custody deputies who must devote time conducting body and property searches.

“Our K-9 corps is an invaluable asset in the county’s law enforcement efforts,” said Lt. Kevin Huddle, who supervises the program. “They are an extremely efficient part of our department and can accomplish feats that are impossible for our human deputies.”

“After extensive training, our canines are teamed with a deputy and work as a dedicated team. Each of the dogs are a part of both the Sheriff’s Office family and that of their handler. The bond and the dedication that exists is extraordinary and every one of the dogs have provided heroic feats in service to protecting citizens of the County,” he added.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Posse is a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization, making donations tax deductible.

Recently, the Sheriff’s Posse has helped the Sheriff’s Office obtain equipment including protective vests, night vision goggles, specialized weapons, computer equipment, and a barn for its Mounted Enforcement Unit. The posse also has supported the DARE program in county grammar schools that trains students to develop good decision-making skills and an understanding of the harmful effects of substance abuse, bullying and violence.

For more information, visit www.sbsheriffsposse.org.

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