Butte County is proud to have one of the premier K9 units in Northern California, comprised of talented and certified canines with their handlers. Each K9 team may specialize in any of the following search disciplines: wilderness or area search, trailing, cadaver, water, and firearms detection. Our certified K9 teams may respond out of county to assist other agencies for "mutual-aid" searches when requested by California's Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA). Some of our K9 teams are also members of the California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA).

Butte County is the only county north of Sacramento with a helicopter rescue program, and Search and Rescue is fortunate to have use of both of our Sheriff's helicopters - a military OH-58 (Bell Jet Ranger) and an OH-6 (MD-500). Both aircraft are available night and day, and provide a platform for technical air rescue on both land and water, as well as an observation platform when searching for lost or missing persons. Our "Helo Techs" are proficient at providing short-haul rescue - where a rescuer is inserted into a location on the end of a 100 ft. line and extracts a victim back to safety. This type of rescue can greatly shorten the delay in transporting a critical patient to advanced medical care.

As the Land of Natural Wealth and Beauty, Butte County has a variety of lakes, rivers, and creeks that provide an incredible amount of recreation to its citizens. Search and Rescue is fully prepared with our highly skilled Swiftwater Rescue Team to respond to any type of water rescue in the county. Some of these calls may include boating or tubing accidents on the Sacramento River, vehicles driven into moving water, or rescues during flood disasters.

The DART team provides rescue and recovery of drowning victims along with evidence collection in all bodies of water. The team is comprised of certified rescue divers, skilled in the search and recovery of persons trapped under water. Situations can include drowning in lakes or rivers, and may involve submerged vehicles in water.

Our technical rescue team responds to any call involving persons over a cliff or inaccessible areas. This can include hikers who have fallen down an embankment to vehicles driven into a canyon. The team is proficient in all aspects of rope rescue and routinely trains with local and county Fire Departments through BIRG.

Due to Butte County's varying geography, Search and Rescue is prepared to conduct searches in all types of terrain and climates. Members are trained in wilderness survival and routinely traverse the far reaches of the county. Our various types of equipment reflect Butte County's geography, and members routinely train in the remote areas they serve.

While all members specialize in search techniques, many have continued their education in Search Management. This team is able to carefully plan, conduct, and manage all types and sizes of searches whether it's a lost child, a person with Alzheimer's disease who has wandered away from home or a hiker who is overdue returning home.

The Sheriff's Communications Reserve is a "sister" auxiliary unit of the Butte County Sheriff's Office and provides radio communication solutions to both Search & Rescue and any other agency who requests their services. The unit is comprised of over a dozen skilled radio enthusiasts, many of whom are Ham Radio operators who specialize in command, tactical, and interoperable communications. The "Comm Reserve" maintains a high frequency "HF" radio station at the Sheriff's Office, able to communicate to any other county or state agency independent of telephones or power. The unit also runs two Ham Radio repeaters that provide emergency communications coverage into remote areas of the county. Also in its arsenal of equipment are two Comm vehicles, both stocked with equipment to provide communications to nearly any agency, anywhere in the county.