The cold case unit, which last year arrested a suspect in an unsolved 1976 murder, is effectively dissolved, but investigators will look into old unsolved crimes when they’re not working on active cases, he said. “I think it will in essence equate to local risk.”Īny reports of child pornography and human trafficking will still be investigated, but by the department’s cyber crimes or sex crimes units instead of a dedicated task force, Barnes said. “There are less people to do that – that’s the loss,” Barnes said. The joint terrorism task force, which works with the FBI, is the investigative arm that follows up on leads and intelligence about homeland security threats that have been vetted by the sheriff’s Intelligence Assessment Center. 14, he said the reductions came at the request of the county CEO’s budget office, and he tried to make the “least worst” choices, but said he still worries about their impact on public safety. Thanks to some planned retirements, as of January Barnes will be able to reduce the department’s executive command staff from 11 people to eight by getting rid of the “commander” rank and a senior director position two remaining commanders will be reclassified to join three other assistant sheriffs, and the executive director and undersheriff positions will not change.īarnes announced the savings at a recent press briefing. Over the last few months, Barnes cut four of six positions from a joint terrorism task force, and one investigator each from the child exploitation task force and the department’s cold case homicide unit. In fiscal year 2019-20, the department’s budget – including its contracts to provide policing for 13 cities – was $747.1 million. It remains to be seen, though, whether more cuts will be sought from a department that accounts for one of the larger shares of the county’s day-to-day operations budget. With most local governments scrambling to cut costs after the coronavirus pandemic devastated expected revenue, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes has trimmed $10 million from his budget over the past few months by rearranging top-level command positions and eliminating a handful of other jobs.

Orange county sheriff blotter