While attending high school, I made a decision that I wanted to go into law
enforcement as a career. In those days you had to be 21 years of age in order
to test for a job. I had almost three years before I would be 21 so I went to
Bakersfield College with a major in criminal justice. I got married in 1959 and
my first son was born in 1963. Upon completion of college, I was hired as one
of the first police officers in the newly incorporated City of Arvin and worked
there nearly four years. My second son was born in 1967 and that same year I
was hired by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department and moved to the
coast. My ex-wife and I separated in 1984 which led to a divorce and I never
remarried. I retired from the sheriff's department in January 1996, after a 32
year career in law enforcement and continue to reside in San Luis Obispo
County. My hobbies consist of traveling, my classic 1964 corvette, metal
detecting, and playing slots at various casinos. Retirement is the best job I
ever had. Leon Cole.
