San Diego County Sheriff's Department: Collaborative Training - La Mesa

Press release from San Diego County Sheriff's Department:

10/15/2021 10:40 AM

Volunteers with the Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) K-9 Unit and Dive Team will be working together for a training at Lake Murray. 

The scenario will involve a capsized boat and the search for a drowning victim. Six SAR K-9s will be tracking from boats on the lake and along the shore. The dogs will alert their handlers when they find a scent. This find will serve as a guide for the Dive Team to narrow the search area for recovery. 

San Diego County is surrounded by water. Vehicles go off the road and people can fall of the docks.  Criminals can also hide evidence, stolen cars, weapons and even victims under water. The exercise helps volunteers understand the capabilities of each unit during a call out. 

There are currently 17 volunteers on the Sheriff’s Dive Team. They come from diverse backgrounds such as the military, medicine, law, engineering, information technology, security, and firefighting. They are all scuba certified.  Some have Masters in Forensics. They are called in 24 hours per day to find human remains, weapons and stolen goods tossed into shallow and deep waters. Evidence can be as big as an airplane to as small as a pocket knife. 

The Sheriff's Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer unit. Together, they perform wilderness and urban rescues, as well as search for missing and at-risk persons. Teams are available 24 hours per day to respond to local, state and federal agency requests.

The Dive Team and SAR are always looking for volunteers. For more information, visit www.sdsheriff.gov/volunteer. 

Media Contact:
Melissa Aquino
mediarelations@sdsheriff.org 

This press release was produced by San Diego County Sheriff's Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.