Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team

12/08/2024

Today, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Dive Team conducted training with the AQUAEYE® by VodaSafe—the world’s first mobile search and rescue sonar powered by artificial intelligence.

AQUAEYE® uses advanced sonar tech to locate human bodies underwater, even in poor visibility or polluted waters. This innovative tool enhances the ability to respond to water related recoveries, making our missions faster and more efficient.

Proud to stay at the forefront of technology to keep our community safe! 💙

07/05/2024

Search for missing swimmer in the Russian River continues.

At approximately 6:17 PM on July 3rd, 2024, we received a 911 call that a man had been swimming near Villa Grande on the Russian River. Deputies and Sonoma County Fire District personnel arrived and began searching for the missing man.

Despite an extensive initial search, Deputies were unable to locate him. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Marine Unit, Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team, and Monte Rio Fire responded to help. The search was suspended at dark for safety concerns and resumed in the morning once it was light out.

On July 4th, 2024, the Sheriff’s Office Marine unit resumed the search for the missing man at sunrise and continued through the day. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit and Dive Team were joined by the Marine Unit to aid in the search with their remote-operated underwater vehicle. Again, the search was suspended in the dark due to safety concerns.

The search will resume at sunrise today, July 5th, with additional help from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office marine unit.

As additional details become available, updates will be posted via Sonoma Sheriff FB page.

Thank you to and Monte Rio Fire for their continued support during this search.

Case No: 240703-019
Media Inquiries: (707) 565-3941

07/03/2024

🌊☀️ As Sonoma County heats up and we dive into lakes, rivers, and pools, let's keep safety top of mind! Whether you're splashing with the family or hitting the waves solo, remember these tips:

💦 Always watch kids around water.
💦 Wear a life jacket and buddy up—never swim alone!
💦 Stay cool with shade, sunscreen, and LOTS of water.

Find some great locations to get some relief from the heat AND get the lowdown on the River Shuttle and Free Loaner Lifejacket program at https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit.

06/15/2024

📢 Training Exercise at Bedarra Vineyards! 🍇

We'd like to extend a huge thank you to the amazing owners of for graciously allowing us to use their beautiful pond for our recent training session. 🙏

Check out this behind-the-scenes footage of our dive team suiting up and doing safety checks! 🤿🌊

During this exercise, we placed an object underwater and had our team topside using sonar feeds to guide our divers to the target.

This drill was crucial for two reasons:
1️⃣ To enhance our ability to identify objects underwater using our sonar gear.

2️⃣ To improve our team communication skills, ensuring precise directions from the surface to our divers below.

It's teamwork and training like this that help us stay prepared for real-life situations. Thank you for your support, Sonoma County! 🌟

04/15/2024

Teenager drowns in Russian River.

At approximately 4:40 PM on April 11, 2024, we received a 911 call that two teenagers had been swept into the Russian River from Steelhead Beach. Deputies, along with Sonoma County Fire District personnel arrived and began searching for the missing teenagers. After speaking with witnesses, it was determined one of the teenagers was able to get out of the water on their own and was later transported to a local hospital.

Given that initial searches for the other teen were unsuccessful, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Marine Unit, Henry-One, Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team , Graton Fire Department, Sonoma County Regional Parks, Santa Rosa Police's Drone Team, Napa County Sheriff's Office Motor Unit, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife responded to help. The search was suspended at 11:00 PM, and would resume in the morning once it was light out.

On April 12, 2024, the search for the missing teenager continued at sunrise. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit and the Dive Team were joined by Napa County Sheriff’s Office's Marine Unit, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office's Marine Unit and Sonoma County Regional Parks. At approximately 10:30 AM the teenager was located by an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operated by Napa County Sheriff’s Office. We were able to recover the body from the water and are working on confirming the identity the teen.

We want to offer our sincerest condolences to the victim’s family during this difficult time.

We also want to thank all the agencies who aided with the search.

Case No: 240411017
Media Inquiries: (707) 565-3941

04/13/2024

Proud to be part of the team to bring closure to the family. Thanks to our volunteer divers for giving up 2 days to support this search.

04/13/2024

02/02/2024

We are fortunate to share this space with a great group of dedicated people. Always willing to help!

01/06/2024

Our volunteers are a tight group. When we’re not diving for the Sheriff’s Office, we enjoy diving personally. Five of us got a chance to travel with friends and family to dive in some much cleaner and clearer water recently… Fiji. It was a great chance to recharge and dive for the pleasure of it - not for a recovery or evidence search in black water.

11/02/2023

Over the weekend the Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team got to participate in a very worth while first responder training. Marine Sonic Technology, in conjunction with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, provided a multi agency training event that expanded the knowledge of Side Scan Sonar and underwater imaging techniques for towed and hull mounted systems.

Training Topics included:
• What is Side Scan Sonar
• Terminology
• The Acoustic Collection Process
• Frequency, Range, and Depth Selection
• NaDir Process, what it is and what it does
• Image collection and processing
• Principles of Sound, Speed of Sound,
Density and Reflection
• Frequency, reaction with objects
• Image Interpretation
• Principles of Vertical imagining
• Search patterns
• Target marking.

The pics and video are from the day 2 hands on, on the water demonstration and training.

07/13/2023

Marine Sonic Technology, in conjunction with the Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team, is providing a FREE training event in Sonoma County to expand the knowledge of Side Scan Sonar and underwater imaging techniques for towed and hull mounted systems.

October 28-29
3333 Skaggs Springs Rd.
Geyserville, CA 95441

If your dept. is interested in joining the training, please contact Adrian Tamblin - [email protected]

02/06/2023

This Saturday, the Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team got together at Healdsburg High School’s pool for ongoing training. We practiced skills in both our personal (recreational) gear and team (operational) dry suits.

Below are some of the skills we practiced.

Dive Equipment Assembly
Giant Stride Entry
Inflate/Deflate BCD at the Surface
Buoyancy Check at the Surface
Point Descent Over Sensitive bottom
Regulator Removal & Recovery
Partially Flooded Mask
Fully Flooded Mask
Mask Removal & Replacement
Mask Removal & Replacement for 1 Minute
CESA - Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent
Scuba Unit Removal & Replacement at the Surface
Emergency Weight Belt Drop
Scuba Unit Removal and Replacement Underwater
Equipment Disassembly

Practicing these skills keep us safe and become a cohesive effective resource for the community.

Thanks for the heated pool Healdsburg High School.

12/25/2022

https://fb.watch/hDlv9tVFEy/

09/13/2022

Shout out to Stacie Mezzanatto, only female diver on our team… but we’re always accepting applications!

Today we are excited to celebrate National Police Woman Day!

We want to acknowledge and honor the contribution that women make in law enforcement, today and every day. Nationally, women make up about 12% of the police force and we want to bring that statistic up! Thank you to all the women on our team for doing a tough job, and to women everywhere that have sworn to protect and serve.

We are always looking for new recruits, so apply today to be a part of a team that helps serve Sonoma County!

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sonoma

08/14/2022

Well done! Amazing regional asset!

04/19/2022

Worth doing!

11/15/2021

Blue skies, calm water and lots of smiles at this weekend’s Sonoma County Sheriff Volunteer Dive Team’s monthly training. Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Bodega Bay for use of their dock and electrical hook ups.

This month’s training was focused on sonar deployment, team gear familiarization, search patterns, and communication between diver’s and tender’s.

11/04/2021

The Sonoma County Sheriff Dive Team accepts divers of any ability to volunteer as divers, profilers, tenders, etc. All gear is provided. Come help solve crimes, recover stolen items, find drowning victims, and other tasks. Message us for more info!