Sara O’Shaughnessy of Santa Ynez has been elected President of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse Board of Directors. She succeeds Richard Kline, who has been elected as Chairman of the Posse Board. Sara is pleased to take on the new position and said, “It has been an honor to serve on the Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse the past five years. I’m thrilled to be elected as President and to be able to continue to help raise funds for the needs of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Sara, a local businesswoman, grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley and graduated from UCSB with honors. She spent 20 years in the publishing and advertising business in Southern California running west coast advertising sales for various national magazines, most recently Field & Stream. After 13 years living in Newport Beach, Sara, her husband and daughter returned to reside in the Santa Ynez Valley 11 years ago. Sara has served on the posse Board since 2013, the past two years as Vice President.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse is a 501(c)(3) organization which was formed by local citizens to seek ways to help the Sheriff’s Office maintain their current efficiency, improve their performance, morale and effectiveness as well as to seek innovative solutions to the increasingly complex problems faced by local law enforcement. The Sheriff’s Posse Board is comprised of local non-law enforcement volunteers who donate their time, and efforts to assist the Sheriff’s Office fill its needs not funded by the constrained County budget. The Posse also works to enhance relations between the community and County law enforcement, promote public safety through special events and activities, and serve as a citizen-initiated conduit for informing the community about public safety issues.
In the recent past the Sheriff’s Posse has helped the Sheriff’s Office obtain much needed emergency equipment including protective vests, night vision goggles, specialized weapons, computer equipment, drug sniffing and patrol/tracking/bomb/explosive detection dogs, a headquarters barn for its Mounted Enforcement Unit; specialized equipment for the dive team, and has supported the highly effective DARE program in county grammar schools.
For more information on the SBP, visit its website at www.sbsheriffsposse.org.