Victor Fazio

Victor Fazio started his sworn law enforcement career with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (CA) in 1994. He has worked a variety of assignments throughout the agency. He spent a large portion of his career investigating narcotics related offenses. During his 16-year tenure assigned to the narcotics division, he commanded two multi-agency task forces. One task force focused on the proliferation of pharmaceutical drugs and the surge of heroin and opioid related overdose deaths. The other task force was dedicated to identifying and neutralizing drug trafficking organizations at the highest level. Victor was proud to also serve the City of Moorpark – which contracts law enforcement services with the Sheriff’s Office – as Chief of Police for nearly four years.

In January of 2023, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff appointed Victor as one of his four Assistant Sheriffs. Victor currently leads the Special Services Division having oversight of Major Crimes, Narcotics, Bomb and Arson Unit, Criminal Intelligence, Crime Analysis, Crime Lab, Air Unit, Crime Scenes Investigation Unit, SWAT, Tactical Negotiations Unit, Technical Services Unit, and Sheriff’s Systems Bureau which is responsible for hardware, software, and new technology.

Victor enjoys teaching and has instructed well over 10,000 law enforcement officers, health care providers, and community members throughout the nation. Additionally, he is an Adjunct Criminal Justice Professor for the University of Southern California as well as Arizona State University in both graduate and undergraduate programs. He has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in political science, a master’s degree from ASU in criminal justice, and a doctorate in education from USC where his research was focused on reducing harms caused by opioids through physician education. He is married to his wife Courtney, and they have two adult children.