Full Notification

Out of an abundance of caution, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, working in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies, is implementing new procedures in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The purpose is to ensure the health and safety of our community as public safety is our number one priority.  KCSO and other law enforcement agencies have procedures in place to provide mutual aid on a local and state level should a law enforcement agency have staffing issues due to illness.
 
We are requesting the public’s cooperation when they call emergency services to alert us if they have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 so we can have an appropriate response. 
 
Law enforcement will respond to any life-threatening and/or emergency calls. However, if a member of the public is calling to report an incident that is not life-threatening and not in-progress, we will be taking phone reports. We will still respond to the area as needed to address any other portions of the investigation, but will be limiting contact with the public for the safety and protection of community members and peace officers. For non-emergencies, please contact the KCSO Communications Center at 661-861-3110. You can also make an online report at https://www.kernsheriff.org/Reporting.
 
KCSO will be cancelling our participation in all community events at least through the month of March.  All civilian ride-a-longs will be canceled as well.
 
Last night, Governor Newsom and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that visitation would be canceled statewide until further notice. Today, in response, KCSO will be suspending all normal visitation and classes at all detention facilities until further notice. Attorney visits will continue; however, we ask all attorneys to please refrain from visiting the facilities if they are experiencing any signs or symptoms of being ill. There are no cases of COVID-19 being investigated in our detention facilities. These measures are to ensure the safety of all those in our custody and care. 
 
The Kern County Public Health Department has not reported any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kern County. We encourage people to monitor the latest impacts of coronavirus by visiting the following websites from these trusted sources:
 
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/     https://kernpublichealth.com/     cdc.gov/coronavirus/
 
The Sheriff’s Office is monitoring the situation closely while working in partnership with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure the safety of our community and employees.