The city of San Juan Capistrano has been contracting its primary law enforcement services from the Orange County Sheriff's Department since April 19, 1961. At that time, San Juan Capistrano was a quiet town known primarily for the presence of Mission San Juan Capistrano and the annual return of the Swallows each March. Although San Juan Capistrano has maintained its historic township atmosphere, the City has grown into a thriving community of shops, businesses and a culturally diverse population of nearly 34,000. San Juan Capistrano is a truly unique Orange County city and a rarity in California. It is a community whose foundation was laid by the earliest people to inhabit the land and is a community still evolving after more than 250 years. The residents of San Juan Capistrano place a high value on quality of life, the preservation of cultural and historic resources and an appreciation of its very unique heritage.

This picturesque community boasts of 43 miles of unpaved hiking, mountain and equestrian trails, in addition to approximately 20 miles of paved bikeways, 230 acres of agricultural land, 52 acres of developed parks and more than 3000 acres of permanent open space - all within an area of 14 square miles. It is with a sense of pride, that the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff's Department move into their fifth decade of providing law enforcement services to the City of San Juan Capistrano.

The mission of the Police Services Department is to provide responsive, professional law enforcement services to all people in the City. Deputies are committed to promptly responding to calls for service, to protect lives and safeguard property, to initiate and maintain crime prevention programs, and to apprehend criminal offenders. All staff are expected to perform their duties in a friendly, helpful and effective manner; the latter of which is appropriately determined by the circumstances and nature of the duties they may be called upon to exercise.

E-mail to the Police Services Chief for the city of San Juan Capistrano mcbetzler@ocsd.org