DSA MISSION

The Deputy Sheriffs’ Association of San Diego County is the professional labor organization of more than 2,500 sworn deputies of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. For the last 60 years, the DSA has been “The Strength Behind the Badge”® supporting San Diego deputies and their families.

“The Strength behind the Badge” is the slogan chosen by the men and women of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association of San Diego County to symbolize it purpose and meaning. Those five simple words echo the hard work, dedication, and teamwork of countless deputy sheriffs of all ranks who built the DSA brick by brick into the respected political, labor, and community leader it is today.

Since its founding in 1954 as the “Sheriff’s Relief Association,” thousands of names have passed through the DSA’s membership roster, each member helping to lay the foundation of professionalism, camaraderie, and relief for sworn members of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. What makes the nearly 5,000 members of the DSA unique is that — from the Sheriff, to a first-day rookie deputy, to concerned community members — each member represents a collective interest in the well-being of the law enforcement profession and the communities in which they serve.

The membership of the DSA has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars from their paychecks into our communities and youth programs because they know, perhaps better than anyone, the importance of a solid foundation. Today’s society is a reflection of yesterday’s children and the neighborhoods in which they grew up. The DSA was there yesterday, as they are here today and will be tomorrow, to truly be The Strength behind the Badge. 

written by Jim Duffy, past DSA president