Sheriff’s Dept. Has Arresting Web Site

Ever wondered what it’s like to be in a high-speed police pursuit and you’re the good guy?

Visit the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department home page on the World Wide Web and you can hear one deputy’s experience chasing a suspect at more than 90 mph.

The new site uses sound bites, photographs and text to take the public on a tour of the department--the largest law enforcement agency in Ventura County.

The Sheriff’s Department provides police services in the unincorporated portions of the county as well as on a contract basis for five of the county’s 10 cities.

Its home page at www.ventura.org/sheriff is loaded with general information about department operations and facilities, and tips on such topics as traffic schools and how to correct a fix-it ticket.

Sheriff Larry Carpenter welcomes visitors with an overview of the department and its role as protector of nearly half the county’s 750,000 residents.

More than 1,200 people work for the Sheriff’s Department--720 as sworn officers.

Through the page and its links, visitors can learn about the County Jail and honor farms, how to become a department volunteer and job openings.

Those with Quicktime software can listen in as a deputy in a patrol car chases a fleeing suspect at high speed and brings the incident to a close without injury.

Also included is a page on 43-year-old Kathy Silveri, who disappeared from Silver Strand Beach in January 1996 and has not been seen since.

A $50,000 reward has been offered in the case.

In the future, the department will add annual crime statistics as well as a section on wanted persons.