Orange County Sheriff's Department
Search and Rescue Unit
History/Mission Statement

The Orange County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue Unit was formed shortly after the beginning of WWII by Sheriff Jesse Elliot, and was originally called the 'Mobile Reserve Unit'. At that time unit was tasked with the 'homeland security duty' of patrolling the rural portions of Orange County out of a fear of a land invasion from Japan. The unit was reorganized and relabeled the 'Search and Rescue Unit in the early 1960's.

The Search and Rescue Unit is responsible for managing urban and wilderness searches for missing persons, and supporting the safe detection and apprehension of fleeing suspects. To accomplish this mission, the unit frequently conducts operations in all urban areas of the county as well as in the Trabuco District of the Cleveland National Forest. The Unit has also been tasked by the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) to assist other agencies in their search and rescue operations.

The unit's approximately fifty members are specially trained in the areas of bloodhound search, technical search, technical rescue, cliff and rock rescue, swift water rescue, EMT and emergency and disaster medicine. Nearly all of the unit's members have received certification training to the level of SAR-Tech II, from the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR).

Ready to respond 24 hours a day, the Orange County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue Unit is dedicated to saving lives, reuniting families and apprehending fleeing suspects throughout the County of Orange, and wherever else we are requested to serve.

Updated : December 10, 2003