Thomas Brown was born in Santa Paula, California. His father, Thomas Brown Sr., was a hardworking businessman who owned a gas station and later Tom’s Tire, an automotive tire business in Santa Paula. His mother was a harder working housewife, who raised three children, and later became the Dietary Supervisor at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. He stated, “My parents taught me that if you are honest and work hard, you will be successful in life.”

Tom grew up in Santa Paula with his younger brother and sister and lived there the majority of his life. During his grade school years, he enjoyed karate and playing soccer. During his High School years, he played basketball and football. He graduated from Santa Paula High School in 1985, the same year he met his wife, Paulette. Paulette moved to Santa Paula that year and he thought, he’d better make his move before somebody warns her about his past behavior. They began dating their senior year in high school and were married four years later.

After high school, Tom got a job working in the oil fields. He did it for a couple of years and then transitioned into working construction. After a bad winter in the construction business, which means no income, he decided he needed something more consistent to support his family. He had been around cars all his life and worked at his father’s automotive tire store business throughout high school, so he began working for the family business. He worked at the tire store for about ten years and became a successful suspension and alignment mechanic. He eventually became a partner in the business. During this time, his wife and he had two children, Matthew and Tyler, and in 1999 they purchased their first home in Santa Paula.

At the age of 35, he decided he wanted to do something different. And, we are pleased he did. He had an uncle and a cousin who were Deputy Sheriffs, and his brother was an Oxnard Police Officer. After talking to them at length about what their careers were like, he decided to make a change. He was hired and later graduated from the Sheriff’s Academy in 2001, where he received the Academic Achievement Award and Marksmanship Award.

In 2002, the Brown’s sold their Santa Paula home and moved to Fillmore. And we are pleased he did. His first assignment for the Sheriff’s Office was working at Todd Road Jail, where he spent six short years. While there, he was a Jail Training Officer and cross-trained to work almost every assignment. He was transferred to patrol in Fillmore in 2007 and has worked here ever since. And we are pleased he did.

He was lucky to have had two great Field Training Officer’s, Hector Macias and Brian Hackworth, who were both Fillmore residents at the time. Hector and Brian ingrained in him the importance of keeping OUR city safe for our families. During his time working in Fillmore, he has been a Field Training Officer and also worked the Special Enforcement Detail / Fillmore Gang Unit as collateral assignments. He is a member of the Sheriff’s Officer Tactical Response Team and one of go to people when he need a problem solved.

Deputy Tom Brown is great example of Law Enforcement Officer that balances the needs of his family, with the needs of his community, and the needs of his profession. He rarely displays a frustration with his duties and has a great ability to communicate with people in their greatest time of need at all ages. His level of maturity and life experiences has given him a rare insight into the ability to communicate to people, not only those that call for law enforcement services, but his law enforcement peers. He possesses or has the contacts to obtain a lot of intelligence on our community. I can think of numerous times I heard Tom would be in the community off-duty, but would spot a crime or wanted suspect and would take law enforcement action to apprehend the suspect. He frequently does his own research and finds solutions to problems and presents the answer in a manner so all may learn.