News

Released: June 14, 2012 - Thursday, 05:13 PM

Announcement of Public Information Officer Appointment

Contact: Commander Aaron NixPhone: (805) 781-1423Date and time of incident: 06/14/12, 1700 hoursPlace of Occurrence: N/AVictim Information: N/ASuspect Information: N/A The Sheriff’s Office is excited to announce that the Public Information Officer (PIO) position was formally offered to Tony Cipolla early this afternoon. Tony will be filling the position which became vacant with the passing of Rob Bryn on March 1, 2012. Rob’s passing left a huge void at the Sheriff’s Office that impacted the relationship we had built with the media and the community we serve. We are very excited to have Tony join our Sheriff’s Office family and refill the PIO position which will improve and cultivate the relationship we share with the media, and our community. This role is vital in providing information to the media and ultimately to the public. Tony comes to us with a tremendous amount of experience with the media and deep roots in the community. He formally worked for KSBY as an evening anchor and currently with KCOY as a morning anchor.

The testing process for the Sheriff’s PIO was highly competitive by design in order to select the candidate that would best meet the needs of the Sheriff’s Office and the media (public). Our vision of an ideal candidate for the PIO position was someone who had connections to the local media, who could enhance the relationship we share with the community, who would bring a fresh perspective and who would be able to balance the Sheriff’s Office duty of investigating crime with that of keeping the public informed. It became apparent through the testing process that Tony met every aspect of the ideal candidate we were looking for.

As part of the testing process Tony took it upon himself to conduct a tremendous amount of research into the Sheriff’s Office operations to make sure this position was a good fit for him and his family as well as the Sheriff’s Office. Tony was one of several well qualified candidates who competed for the position. Tony excelled through the testing process and earned the position as our new PIO.

Hiring of any public employee requires the employing agency to respect the confidentiality of all eligible candidates during the process and prior to an official offer of employment.

Tony will start his career with the Sheriff’s Office on July 1, 2012. Starting salary for this position is $70,804 annually, plus benefits.