In an effort to familiarize the Department and the Orange County community with the background of Assistant Sheriff Hillmann, the Department Blog is featuring a three part series on his law enforcement career.  The first part covered his time as a police officer. To read it click here. This is the second part and covers his record as a supervisor and manager with the LAPD. The third part will focus on his role with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. 

Assistant Sheriff Michael Hillmann, Field Operations and Investigative Services Command 

November 15, 2003 was the worst day ever for the Burbank Police Department.

“We had an officer killed, another officer wounded and a motor officer was injured in a crash going to the scene.  I was a Captain at the time and standing at the scene, it was awful,” said Burbank Chief of Police Tim Stehr.

Up drove a man he had never met and did not recognize. 

It was Mike Hillmann, then the Deputy Chief for Special Operations with the Los Angeles Police Department. He is now the Orange County Assistant Sheriff for Field Operations and Investigative Services. “He called me ‘sir’, despite his higher rank,” then Captain Stehr remembered of Chief Hillmann. 

“He asked, ‘How can we help?  I have 100 officers who can be here in an hour’.”

An hour later, Captain Stehr had 100 LAPD officers there to assist him and the City of Burbank. The shooting took place during a routine traffic stop when two gang members decided to open fire on police rather than give up their stash of meth. Both officers were shot. More...

Next week the Orange County Board of Supervisors will meet for their thirty-fifth public meeting of the year. Over fifty agenda items will be considered, ranging from county contracts, Board appointments, adoption of new county ordinances, and a report on the county’s financial and budget status.
 
Most of what occurs during these regular public meetings never makes the news. The Sheriff’s Department typically has numerous items on each Board agenda and, in preparation for a board meeting, various staff from impacted divisions work from Wednesday of the preceding week to the Monday before the meeting. They ensure that all agenda items are “present and accounted for” when it comes to the research and historical information necessary to satisfy the questions of the Board and, hopefully, make for smooth sailing on Tuesday.
 
The Sheriff meets regularly with members of the board to discuss the department’s day-to-day operations, current challenges, budget and accomplishments – these meetings are in addition to any that might be necessary to prepare for a Board agenda item. Accompanying the Sheriff, depending on the topic of discussion, is the Undersheriff, Assistant Sheriffs James and Hillmann, Executive Director Rick Dostal, our Commanders and, when necessary, other members of our department.
 
We also attend regular CEO briefings, usually held on Thursday, to go over the following week’s agenda items and answer any questions the board, their staff or the CEO’s office may have. These meetings are extremely helpful, as they give us an opportunity to understand Board perspectives and direct our efforts to alleviate any concerns or misunderstandings.

There are eight items on the Board agenda for Tuesday, November 24, 2009 that could have some impact on Sheriff’s Department operations. These items include:

Item 29 – Consider second reading and adoption of "An Ordinance of the County of Orange, California Adding Section 1-2-126 to the Codified Ordinances of the County of Orange Regarding Bail Bond Agent and Criminal Defense Attorney Advertising Signboards in the County Jails"

Item 45 – Report on County financial and budget status; and,

A closed session item: Human Resources Department - CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR - Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6:
Agency Negotiator:  Thomas G. Mauk
Employee Organization:  Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff (AOCDS)
RE:  Terms and Conditions of Employment

Various Department personnel, including Assistant Sheriff Mike James, will attend Tuesday’s Board meeting to address questions related to our agenda items. You can watch or listen in on the Board meetings by visiting www.oc.ca.gov. In addition, you can review the agendas and pertinent documents and exhibits related to each agenda item.

Each of these meetings involves an extraordinary amount of work and, as we move forward, we want to ensure that we share the highlights (and impacts) of these Board meetings with our department personnel.

All OCSD Employees, Family and Friends;

On Wednesday January 27, 2010 from 7AM to 7PM, The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will be participating in the 4th Annual “BATTLE of the BADGES” Blood Drive.  

The Battle of the Badges Blood Drive will run for two weeks from Tuesday January 19th to Tuesday February 2nd 2010, as Police and Fire Departments throughout Southern California compete in a friendly competition to see which Badge Carrying Personnel, Family and Friends can donate the most blood and ultimately save the most lives.  

So please join us and help save a life, and help Law Enforcement collect and donate the most blood. Last year we finished in 2nd Place behind Riverside Police Department for Donations collected (94 to 107), with your help again, we will exceed that amount.

To see the Battle of the Badges poster click: BATTLE OF BADGES POSTER 2010a.pdf (86.94 kb)

Washington, D.C. ~ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 

Good morning Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Sessions, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to highlight the work and priorities of the Department of Justice. I would also like to thank you for your support of the Department. I look forward to your continued support and appreciate your recognition of the Department’s mission and the important work that we do.

As I have stated to you on previous occasions, the Department continues to focus on its vital missions and goals: protecting the American people from terrorist threats and reinvigorating its traditional role in fighting crime, protecting civil rights, protecting the environment, and ensuring fairness in the market place.

To see the full text of his statement click here.

Volunteers are needed for the 2009 DreamLift Event

When: Thursday, December 10, 2009

On December 10, 2009, Sunshine Dream for Kids and Alaska Air will bring 87 children to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Off-duty volunteer deputies and Sheriff’s personnel will escort the children to Disneyland for the day.

Volunteers will meet with children from the Sunshine Foundation of Canada. These children are ages three to 19 and are challenged by life-threatening illnesses or severe physical disabilities.

This is a full-day event. Participants need to be at the airport by 8:00 AM and should plan on volunteering until 8:00 PM

Admission, lunch and t-shirt are provided by Sheriff’s Advisory Council.

Contact Community Programs at 714-647-4133 to volunteer!

It’s a day you’ll never forget!

Systems Senior Developer Consultant Ramin Aminloo 

Systems Consultant Ramin Aminloo attended the Blackberry Developer Conference in San Francisco this month. Ramin gave a presentation on the use of the Blackberry in the Department's highly successful Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System.  TAGRS has won numerous honors, including a prestigious Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties.  

To listen to the presentation click the icon below:

Sheriff-Coroner Sandra Hutchens to the staff:

This Veteran's Day I was reminded that thirty-nine members of our Department have served on active duty in the military this year. Our sworn personnel and professional staff served in all branches, from a Sergeant in the Marines (a Senior Institutional Cook) to a Lieutenant Commander with a Navy Seal Unit (a Deputy at Theo Lacy).

Our co-workers serve around the world as officers and enlisted, in combat units and support assignments, overseas and in the United States. Many of the Orange County Sheriff's Department family serve in combat zones where they experience more hostile fire in a week than in a thirty year law enforcement career. Others are stationed in places far from home, sacrificing time with their families. All serve to keep us safe from harm, to defend our country.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department Military Leave Connection Program offers each of us a great opportunity to support our active duty personnel while they are away from home.

Since the program began in January, it has benefited twenty-three deployed employees. Items sent have included personal hygiene products, snacks, non-perishable food, books, magazines, birthday cards and even a Cinco de Mayo pinata. OCSD employees in each division have put together personal packages with items and notes to be sent to our deployed fellow employees. Study materials requested for preparation for the Sergeant exam were forwarded to one employee. Personal cards from the Executive Command were also sent.

In total, we have sent 113 flat-rate boxes and two envelopes. By now you should see boxes throughout the Department, ready for you to add to the gifts we will be sending. For more information on how to participate in this program, contact Sergeant Dan Daniels or Office Manager Karen Giudice at the Reserve Bureau.

As we look forward to the holiday season, let's stop to remember those who are serving in the military. A few gifts from friends and family go a long way in letting them know that we are grateful for their sacrifice and look forward to their safe return.

Family and friends of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s newest Aviation Support Unit members gathered at John Wayne Airport on Tuesday. They met in the Aviation Support Unit hanger to see each of the three Deputies pinned with wings.

The ceremony capped hundreds of hours of highly specialized training that led to Deputy Erik Baum being qualified as a Tactical Flight Officer and Deputies Rob Mergen and Mike Russell qualified as Department Helicopter Pilots.

Newest members of the Aviation Support Unit, left to right, Pilot Deputies Mike Russell and Rob Mergen and Tactical Flight Officer Deputy Erik Baum.

Photos by Sheriff's Photographer Jerry Manson  

Some Aero Squadron Facts for 2008

Flight time: 3,794 hours

Calls for Service: 3,271

Search and Rescue Missions: 150

Lost Hikers Found: 30

Training for Tactical Flight Officer:  3 months

Training for Department Helicopter Pilot: 500 hours over nine-months

Duties of Tactical Flight Officer:  Operate all equipment not used for flying the craft, including radar, observation aids, communications devices and illumination from Nightsun searchlight. A Tactical Flight officer also assists the pilot when needed and acts as an extra set of eyes and ears for the pilot. Must be able to multi-task.

For more photgraphs and information on the three Deputies click More...

Crime Survivors, Inc has donated bags packed with essential items to help Deputies assist residents and their families recover after a crime.

From the Crime Survivors Website 

WE ARE HERE TO HELP!
Crime Survivors is committed to serving our community by being an advocate and resource for crime victims and their families. If you don’t know where to turn, or are confused or frustrated with the public services that are available to you as you recover or seek justice, Crime Survivors can help. Our web site will provide information, resources and tools that will help you become a “Survivor”.

For more about Crime Survivors click here and go to their Website.

To see a video on the organization turning over the bundles click the icon below.

Air Force Reserve Master Sergeant Katrina Faulkner, left, photographed in Afghanistan, has since returned to Department's Emergency Management Bureau.   

Veterans Day has long had a special meaning for those who serve in the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Again this year many of our colleagues are currently on active duty with the military and facing combat. So far this year, 39 members of the Department have served on active duty with the military. They include one Data Entry Technician, 15 Deputy Sheriff I's, six Deputy Sheriff II's, one Forensic Scientist, one Investigator, one Marine Mechanic, two Senior Emergency Management Coordinators, one Senior Institutional Cook, one Sergeant, three Sheriff's Special Officers I, and six Sheriff's Special Officers II. 

Recent overseas assignments have included such hotspots as Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the best moments we can all experience is when one of our co-workers returns from duty in a combat zone.

One of the most recent to return is Senior Emergency Management Program Coordinator Katrina Faulkner.

In her words:

Deputy Lance Christensen, second from left, at award's presentation with proud supervisors

To view the Blog story on Deputy Christensen named as California School Resource of the Year for 2009 click here.

Deputy Curtis Vincent

To hear the Public Service Annoucement click the icon below.

U.S. Representative Gary G. Miller has presented Rancho Santa Margarita Police Services Sergeant Matthew Barr and Deputies Jack Ackerman, Jason Finley and Richard Oates with a “Certificate of Congressional Recognition” in honor of their outstanding service to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The certificate read in part: “Your effort to serve and protect the community provides a vital public service.  The hard work and dedication that you exhibit is an invaluable asset to public safety.  Thank you for your law enforcement service.”   

The award stems from a private meeting that Congressman Miller, who represents the 42nd Congressional District, was to have at a local cable television facility.Word of the meeting was leaked on the Internet and several advocacy groups geared up to use the meeting to further their causes and possibly draw far more people and protestors to the event than the facility could accommodate.

The deputies worked closely with Lieutenant Bill Griffin, Sergeant Lisa Von Nordheim and Investigator Robert Taft to ensure that the event took place peacefully and without interfering with public access to the facility.  Those individuals were also commended by Congressman Miller.The Department strives to protect the First Amendment Rights of all and in this case Department personnel were able to successfully balance that responsibility and allow all concerns and issues to be expressed peacefully.

    The Orange County Sheriff’s Department came into existence on August 1, 1889, when a proclamation of the state legislature separated the southern portion of Los Angeles County and created Orange County.  The entire department consisted of Sheriff Richard Harris and Deputy James Buckley, with an operating budget of $1,200 a year and a makeshift jail in the rented basement of a store in Santa Ana.  They served a sparsely populated county of 13,000 residents, scattered throughout isolated townships and settlements.  The problems faced by the first sheriff were typical for a frontier county – tracking down outlaws, controlling vagrancy, and attempting to maintain law and order across 782 square miles of farmland and undeveloped territory.

     But the county was expanding, and the department grew with it.  The Spurgeon Square Jail was opened by Sheriff Joe Nichols in 1897, and the Orange County Courthouse followed in 1901. Sheriff Theo Lacy (the second and fourth sheriff of Orange County, who served from 1890-1894 and 1899-1911) was able to move from borrowed office space in Santa Ana to a dedicated headquarters in the courthouse that remained in operation until 1924. 

     When he took office in 1911, Sheriff Charles Ruddock commanded a staff of eight full-time deputies and jailers, serving a county of nearly 34,000 citizens.  But the county’s frontier past returned to haunt it on December 16, 1912, when Undersheriff Robert Squires became the first member of the department to be killed in the line of duty while part of a posse attempting to apprehend a violent fugitive.  More...

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens joins JWA Director Alan L. Murphy, rear left, and TSA Federal SecurityDirector B.C. Bell in welcoming the new dogs to airport security team

Photos by Sheriff's Photographer Jerry Manson

Director Dean Gialamas accepts Vital Link award for Department

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has been selected as Career Outreach Partner of the Year by Vital Link.  Vital Link is an organization working to maintain a link between businesses and educators in an effort to prepare students for the successful transition to meaningful employment. As a catalyst for systemic change, Vital Link is committed to making high school an integral component in the career development process for students.

This summer, Vital Link sent several teachers/counselors for a tour of the Department's Crime Lab. 

For more information on Vital Link, click here.

The "Orange County Lawmen" Police Football Team is looking for a few good football players.

The Orange County Lawmen Football Team plays full contact football games to raise money for charity. 

The Lawmen give scholarships to graduating high school athletes to assist them with their college career. 

The 2010 season will start in just a couple of months. The plans for this season are to travel to Columbus, Ohio. 

The practices are held on Saturday mornings at 0800 hours (to accommodatethe players working graveyard shift). Non-mandatory practices for skillplayers will start in January 2010 with full practice beginning in February. 

Playing on the Orange County Lawmen Football Team is a fun and rewarding experience. You have the opportunity to meet and work with lawenforcement personnel from all over Orange County. You also get to meetand befriend cops and firefighters from all over the country.

Anybody interested in playing or assisting with the off field events, Lawmen team meeting is Saturday November 7th at 11am. 

It will be at the HB POA Office located at 18211 Prodan HB.

Any interested players are encouraged to attend. For more information please call 714-608-5936

Photo courtesy of Orange County Register photographer Michael Goulding

Many people turn away at the sight of Manny, the newest training device at the Coroner's office. The life-like mannequin was created by a studio that works for television and the movies. The mannequin is designed to bring realism to the lessons taught Coroner's investigators from around the state who train at the Department's facility in Santa Ana.

The Orange County Register and KCBS did news features on Manny.

To view the Register's story, click here.

To view the KCBS broadcast clike the icon below.

Register Reporter Larry Welborn, who started his career at the paper when James Musick was Sheriff, is seeking to identify the 10 most notorious crimes in the county. To make up the list he is featuring 50 notorious crimes, one each day, on his Blog in the Register.

Silent film star Bebe Daniels is entertained while serving 10-day sentence at Orange County Jail in 1921 for speeding

He will be seeking input from readers and nominations of crimes he has overlooked.

He started the series this week and the first three cases he profiles all have a link to the Sheriff's Department. The cases so far include the 1892 lynching of jail inmate Francisco Torres, the 1920 apprehension of serial killer Mose Gibson, who was brought back to Orange County from Arizona by a team of Sheriff's Deputies, and the incarceration in the county jail of silent film star Bebe Daniels, sentenced for speeding in 1921. Her case appears to have been the most celebrated car chase in the county until OJ Simpson passed through in a Ford Bronco in 1994.

To see the story click here.  

Over 300 county employees, including members of every Division in the Sheriff’s Department, helped win high praise in preliminary reports by federal evaluators of the recent SONGS Plume Phase Exercise, Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Bureau Manager Donna Boston told the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. 

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is the lead agency in County-wide emergency planning and preparedness.  This is done through the Homeland Security Division, Emergency Management Bureau (EMB).  Within the EMB there exists a team of highly trained emergency planners and coordinators who work to ensure the County develops effective emergency plans and is able to respond to any imaginable catastrophic event.  Among those hazards that the team plans for is an emergency at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, commonly referred to as SONGS.  

The County is mandated by federal and state regulations to manage a nuclear preparedness program, and part of that is to participate in evaluated exercises.  On September 23, 2009, the Sheriff’s Department hosted one of these evaluated exercises:  The 2009 SONGS Plume Phase Exercise.  

Preparation for this exercise included countless training sessions, a fully staffed dress rehearsal, major event preparations, and the involvement of every division of OCSD.   

On the day of the graded exercise, Sheriff Hutchens, as Director of Emergency Services  led the Emergency Operations Center to a successful final exercise grade.  At the conclusion of the emergency exercise, Federal Emergency Management Agency evaluators candidly stated that the “OC EOC rocked.”  Evaluators were extremely impressed with the EOC’s ability to make decisions, implement protective actions for the public and inform the public through media relations and hotline operators.  The final report for the SONGS Exercise captures the dedication to excellence which exists in the County and the Sheriff’s Department.  

The EMB staff who energized the entire EOC included Sara Kaminske, Vicki Osborn, Peggy Erdner, Donna Mayer, Raymond Cheung, Janell Harriman, Katrina Faulkner, Michelle Anderson, Luis Ramirez, Michelle Prieto and Mellisa Chorn.  It is through their attention to detail and willingness to push past challenges and reach for solutions that the EOC has become a national model for nuclear preparedness.       

On Saturday, October 24, 2009  the Westminster Police Department’s Police Officers Association hosted a bike race called the “ Haunted Ride”.

The ride was to raise money for their memorial fund.  Five teams entered this inaugural event in hopes of bringing home the first place trophy.  

This was a five person team event with a relay-type format.  This marathon ride went from Midnight to 8:00AM with each team member taking a turn on the course that traversed along the Westminster Mall access road. 

At the end of the night the team that had ridden the most laps won.    

The Sheriff’s Department’s team was made up of  Sgt. Ben Stripe ( North Operations), Deputy Kevin Lapyrne ( North Operations) Deputy Stu Thomsen ( North Operations)  Sgt. Stu Rawlings (South Operations) and Deputy Jim Nasser (Central Jail Complex) .  

OCSD took home the first place trophy for their efforts. 

More importantly, their efforts assisted the Westminster Police Department’s Peace Officer Association in raising money for its Memorial Fund. 

The Class 191 Guidon bears this motto:

“Never Afraid, First to Attack, Nothing Can Break the Strength of the Pack”

Photos by Professional Services Responder Randy Frager

The 17 graduates included seven from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, four from the Santa Monica Police Department, two from the Newport Beach Police Department, and one each from the Irvine Police Department, the Vernon Police Department, Santa Ana College and the U.S. Navy.

“As we go forth in our careers we will strive to be the best, as you have taught us. We will never go down without a fight because of the training that you and the other county instructors have provided us,” said Class President Kevin McInerney, a Santa Monica Police Officer.

The class training began on May 18 and since then seven class members dropped out.

“The unprepared, the unfit for duty and the weak are no longer here. Recruits who will graduate this evening deserve to be here, you have made sure of that,” said Officer McInerney. More...

Project 999, which supports the survivors of Peace Officers killed in the line of duty, is sponsoring a comedy benefit at Original Mike's on November 7.

To see the front of their flyer click: COMEDY FIESTA FLYER FRONT FINALa.pdf (223.71 kb)

For the back of the flyer click: COMEDY FIESTA FLYER BACK FINAL.pdf (449.66 kb)

Here are some videos of the scheduled performers: