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The Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) is the law enforcement agency serving Orange County, California. It currently serves the unincorporated areas of Orange County and twelve contract cities (Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton and Villa Park).

The agency also provides law enforcement services to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) system, and John Wayne Airport. OCSD also runs Orange County's Harbor Patrol, which provides law enforcement, marine fire fighting, search and rescue, and underwater search and recovery services along the county's 42 miles of coastline and in the county's three harbors (Dana Point, Newport and Sunset).

The department's helicopter uses the radio call sign "Duke" (after John Wayne) and, appropriately, uses the John Wayne Airport as its operational base.

The Orange County Marshal's Department was absorbed by OCSD on July 1, 2000. OCSD, under its Court Operations Division, now provides all security and law enforcement services (such as Bailiff services and prisoner custody) to the county court system.

Since 1999, OCSD has been led by Mike Carona.

Jim Amormino is the director of the Public Affairs Office of the department, who can be seen in nearly every television interviews involving the OCSD.

OCSD was founded in 1889.

Currently, OCSD has 1,460 sworn members and 1,446 civilian personnel.

The Orange County Sheriff's Academy is located in Tustin, California. The facility opened in late 2007 and replaced the old academy in Garden Grove due to overcrowding. [1] Some training is also conducted at a Sheriff's facility in Orange, California.

There are 83 instructors on the academy and 46 percent are from OCSD, 39 percent from other agencies, and 15 percent are from non-law enforcement. The academy program at the OCSD academy is 26 weeks.

Some law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County utilize the OCSD Academy for training, including the Torrance Police Department and the Pasadena Police Department.

In 2004, the son of then-Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Gregory Haidl, got in trouble with the law for his role in the Orange County Gang Rape Case. This case led to the resignation of Don Haidl.

Also, Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo was arrested for bribery and other offenses. Sheriff Mike Carona removed Jaramillo as assistant sheriff after Jaramillo was indicted. During Jaramillo's term, he and Carona were good friends. Jaramillo pleaded "no contest" to the charges and is currently serving a six month jail sentence.

Recently, Sheriff Mike Carona was indicted on federal corruption charges.

• Orange County Sheriff's Department