Career Talk: Dr. Toni Bland, assistant sheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s Department

Toni Bland, Ed.D., is an assistant sheriff with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. She leads field operations and investigative services, including all street operations, investigations, the crime lab, the coroner’s office and emergency services. During her 27-year career in law enforcement, Bland continued to advance her education, including a bachelor's degree, two master's degree and a doctorate in organizational leadership. She was part of the first group of students to earn a doctorate from Brandman University. In this podcast, she talks about her law enforcement career path. For more about Bland and her education, read Learning to lead opens new paths for assistant sheriff Transcript Welcome to Brandman Speaks: Career Talk. In this podcast, Orange County Assistant Sheriff Toni Bland talks about her career and her education including the two degrees she earned from Brandman University. Thinking about a career in law enforcement started early. Dr. Toni Bland: Ever since I was young, I wanted to be in law enforcement. For me, it's kind of a cliché but I wanted to be able to help people, to make or to have an impact on the communities where I live. I live in Orange County and I wanted to be a part of how the community is policed and how citizens are helped. And I also want to have a role in taking bad people off the streets who, you know, cause harm to others. She also had a family connection. Bland: My mom joined the Los Angeles Police Department and so I felt that that was a place for me to go work. I decided to get into law enforcement after that. I did apply for the LAPD. I was turned down because I have asthma, joined Orange County Sheriff's Department and I have not looked back. Wanting to be in law enforcement doesn't automatically mean you get to be in law enforcement. Here are some of the steps she had to go through. Bland: I was initially in the military for about eight years and when I left the military, I applied had a couple different agencies and I was called by Orange County and once I began the process, I was hired in about three months. The hiring process includes a written test, an oral interview, a medical exam, a psychological exam and a background investigation. Once you are hired, you go through a six-month academy program and you learn everything there is to know about policing in the state of California. The academy comes with its own set of challenges. Bland: But there were times during the basic academy that I thought I wouldn't make. It's pretty grueling physically. There's a lot to learn in a short period of time. In an Orange County, the academy is a disciplined academy, so there's a, you know, a lot of yelling and a lot of chaos to get you ready for handling the community. So it was stressful at times. I got through it and I'm happy that I stuck with it. Her education helped her advance in her career. Bland: When I hired on to the Sheriff's Department 27 years ago, I had some college and a high school diploma and because the Sheriff's Department offers tuition reimbursement I decided to get a bachelor's degree. And once I did that, I had a couple of assignments, I became an investigator and realized I should know a little bit more about criminal justice and the criminal justice process. So I got a master's degree in criminal justice. I continued to work. I had a few different jobs, a few more promotions and we got a new sheriff in 2008 and so I went through another master's program related to organizational leadership to help just expand my knowledge on what's contemporary in business. After that I decided that I had enough education and continued to work different jobs in the Sheriff's Department. Recognizing that I was on the end of my career, I thought a doctorate would be helpful in garneri...