Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
The new logo for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, shown on the car on the left, is more elaborate than the old logo, which had a green and gold star, displayed on the right side of car.
New logo on sheriff's patrol cars shows locale
By Rebecca Ray
Patrol cars from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office now feature something that reflects the influence of the Internet revolution: a web address.
The addition of SCCSheriff.org to the trunk is one of the recent changes made to the look of the cars.
"The new one is a 100 percent improvement," said Deputy Pete Evangel of the Westside Substation in Saratoga. "Most everybody enjoys seeing it. It adds a little bit of pride. It makes us look a little more progressive, a little more modern."
Sheriff Laurie Smith decided on new logos because she wanted the Sheriff's Department's web address on the bumpers of the cars and more recognition for the cities that the department serves. Smith also said that she wanted a design that was more up-to-date and that would allow drivers to discern the vehicles as being from the sheriff's office, as opposed to another law enforcement agency.
Lt. Lindley Zink, who works out of the department headquarters in San Jose, has taken comments from other deputies and worked with the Southern California company, North Star Graphics, to design a new logo, which Smith approved. Since January, employees from North Star Graphics have been using a heating device to strip the old decals off the cars, cleaning the areas where the new designs would go on and applying them.
The process probably took a total of three weekends, Lindley said. According to Evangel, the process probably took one hour per car for the 30 to 35 cars, most of which are Ford Crown Victorias, at the Westside Substation.
On each patrol and traffic vehicle, the word "SHERIFF" has been painted twice, once in dark green and once in gold, with the green overlaying the gold to make the word look three-dimensional. "SANTA CLARA COUNTY" has been added above "SHERIFF" in script type. The "Emergency 911" stickers have been peeled off and replaced with gold pinstripes and "Emergency 9-1-1" in script type. The old identification numbers have been stripped off and replaced with new ones.
On the trunks of the patrol vehicles, "Santa Clara County Sheriff" has been added in green and gold paint that reflects when hit by light. The words "Proudly Serving" and the name of one of the department's jurisdictions, such as Saratoga or Cupertino, has been painted on the front door below the word "SHERIFF" on patrol vehicles. The words have been left off traffic vehicles, so that deputies can drive them anywhere.
The sergeants' patrol vehicles, which are the only 1999 Ford Expeditions at the Westside Substation, have the word "supervisor" on the rear doors, while parks patrol vehicles say "Proudly Serving County Parks," and transit patrol vehicles have Valley Transit Authority stickers.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
