Riverside County is a large, diversified, and growing county located in Southern California’s Inland Empire. It stretches from the Orange County line in the west all the way to the Colorado river and the Arizona border in the east. It is bordered by San Diego and Imperial Counties in the South and San Bernardino County to the North and encompasses over 8,000 square miles. The terrain stretches from the snow and pine forests of Idyllwild and Mt. San Jacinto to the world class desert resorts of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.

The job of protecting and helping all the residents, tourists, and visitors to Riverside County falls principally upon the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is the third largest Sheriff’s Department in California. The Department is responsible for maintaining the County’s jail facilities, serving its court system, and protecting the public through operations out of ten patrol stations.

The Riverside Sheriffs’ Association is the Exclusive Employee Organization representing the following bargaining units: The Law Enforcement Unit, Correctional Deputy Unit, and the Public Safety Unit. The Law Enforcement Unit is comprised of sworn personnel including Deputy Sheriffs, District Attorney Investigators and Deputy Coroners employed by the County of Riverside. The Correctional Deputy Unit represents Correctional Deputies and Correctional Counselors while the Public Safety Unit is primarily comprised of Probation Officers and Supervising Probation Officers. As the Exclusive Employee Organization representing these units, the RSA negotiates contracts with the County concerning wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. Currently, the RSA represents over 3,500 members from the Sheriff’s Department, the Coroner’s office, the District Attorney’s office, and the Probation Department. In addition, the RSA also administers a premier legal defense program through the RSA Legal Defense Trust (LDT). The LDT provides legal services and representation to RSA members when they are under investigation for administrative and/or criminal incidents arising from the course and scope of their employment as law enforcement officers.

RSA is an active force in the political arena as well, endorsing candidates for local, state, and federal offices. We also are actively involved in the statewide police labor movement through groups such as the Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement (S.C.A.L.E.), the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations (C.C.L.E.A.), and the Peace Officer’s Research of California (PORAC). Through these groups, RSA supports a variety of issues regarding police labor rights, crime victim’s rights, more potent laws and effective punishments.