Behind the Badge
Faced with a rash of positions to fill and intense competition from other law enforcement agencies that need more sworn personnel, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has streamlined its process of hiring peace officers with experience under their belts.
So-called “lateral” prospects — deputies or officers who have at least a year of service at another law enforcement agency —- no longer have to take a written or physical agility test after submitting their application to the OCSD.
Rather, in a change adopted in November, lateral applicants now will come in for an oral interview and, if they pass that, the typically time-consuming process of checking their backgrounds will begin.
Undersheriff Don Barnes speaks to new “laterals” (from left) Stephen Essex, John Sands, Steven Salazar and Jared Hendee, during a recent swearing-in ceremony at the O.C. Sheriff’s Department.
Photo by Christine Cotter
The policy change is expected to shorten by up to two months the time it takes to hire a lateral, said Sgt. Rebecca Contreras, Professional Standards Division, Background, for the OCSD.
“We’re not changing our hiring requirements,” Contreras said, “but instead streamlining the process to make it more efficient.”
Also, in a change that happened a couple of months ago, the OCSD now can hire laterals at a more competitive salary. Before the county approved the change, laterals — regardless of how many years of experience they had — only could join the OCSD at a lower pay rate.
“We saw many (lateral applicants) come in wanting to work for us, but when we offered them $26 an hour, they were, ‘Hey, I’m making $40 now,’ so it was difficult to get them,” Contreras said. “Now the pay scale has been amended and changed to be competitive. In fact, we’ve reached out to some of those people who turned down the job to see if they are interested in reconsidering.”
Jared Hendee awaits his official swearing-in and badge-pinning at the O.C. Sheriff’s Department ceremony for newly hired laterals.
Photo by Christine Cotter
The OCSD now has a goal of getting applicants with law enforcement experience hired within a month after they apply online.
Unlike new recruits, laterals don’t have to go through a rigorous 28-week academy, although like rookie deputies they first are assigned to work the jails for a couple of years before they can transfer to patrol.
“Even if we can hire a lateral within six to eight weeks,” Contreras said, “that’s going to make a big difference because it had been taking anywhere from three to four months.”
It didn’t make sense, Contreras said, for a working police officer to take a written test designed to test for skills and abilities for entry-level police officer candidates, not for seasoned veterans.
It also didn’t make sense, she said, to put him or her through a physical agility test, since lateral applicants still have to be medically cleared by a county physician before they can join the OCSD.
OCSD Commander Robert Peterson, left, speaks to new laterals (from left) Stephen Essex, John Sands, Steven Salazar and Jared Hendee, during a swearing-in ceremony at the O.C. Sheriff’s Department as Sheriff Sandra Hutchens looks on.
Photo by Christine Cotter
But that’s the way the old system worked.
Once a month, lateral applicants would come to the OCSD to take a written test and undergo a physical agility test. If they passed those tests, they would be invited back — typically a week or two later — for a 20-minute oral interview by three panelists who would asked them five scenario-based questions.
Then, if they passed the oral interview, the process of having their background investigated would begin.
The new lateral hiring process, Contreras said, “gets applicants in the door faster and also gets them working, boots on the ground, faster.”
Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. Rebecca Contreras runs a unit that oversees background investigations for all personnel, sworn or otherwise.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
On a recent weekday, nine lateral applicants already had been interviewed before lunch. They had applied online a few days earlier.
The OCSD is playing catch up when it comes to hiring both sworn and professional staff.
Although the numbers are a moving target because of retirements and attrition and other factors, as of Dec. 5, 2016 the OCSD employed 1,882 sworn deputies and 1,747 professional staffers, for a total of 3,629. The department has a target of hiring approximately 280 deputy sheriff trainees and 200 non-sworn/professional staff members.
Jared Hendee with his father Dodge after a recent swearing-in ceremony at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Photo by Christine Cotter
Contreras said the OCSD is attractive to sworn peace officers working elsewhere because of the variety of assignments a deputy can pursue, from Air Support to Harbor Patrol to a host of other specialties.
“Our sales pitch always has been the diversity of details deputies can work,” Contreras said. “They can go anywhere they want throughout their career. They can work somewhere for a year or so but then can put in for another assignment. Our county is so broad and we have so much from north to south. If you get bored here, it’s because you have an issue.”
Contreras oversees a team that looks into the backgrounds of anyone — sworn or otherwise — hired by the OCSD. Her staff recently got three new investigators, to bump the total to 11, to help keep up with the avalanche of work. In the last three years, Contreras’ team has conducted more than 3,000 background investigators each year.
“It is an amazing time (to join law enforcement),” said Contreras, a 20-year veteran of the OCSD whose assignments have included working as a patrol deputy in Laguna Niguel for 10 years.
“We will not lower our standards, and there’s no reason we have to,” Contreras said. “We just have to do more work, and that’s fine. We are up to the task.”
O.C. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens with new lateral hire Jared Hendee.
Photo by Christine Cotter
Jared Hendee, right, is congratulated by fellow laterals after a swearing-in ceremony at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Photo by Christine Cotter
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Jared Hendee with his father Dodge during the recent swearing-in ceremony for laterals.
Photo by Christine Cotter
From left, Stephen Essex, John Sands, Steven Salazar and Jared Hendee during their swearing-in ceremony led by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.
Photo by Christine Cotter
