Sheriff’s Captain to Sue Duffy Over Campaign Policy

Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Roache said Thursday that he will go to court to overturn a department policy prohibiting his candidacy for sheriff because he has been told that Sheriff John Duffy, who plans to seek reelection next year, will not respond to his request to rescind the policy.

Duffy, however, in a meeting with selected reporters Thursday, said a new policy will be substituted, and Roache will be allowed to run against him.

“What I’d like to do is find a way for Roache to run without getting in any trouble,” Duffy said. “He’s just going to have to be patient” while the department’s legal advisers come up with a substitute policy.

But Duffy also said another department policy strictly prohibits Roache from publicly criticizing the sheriff or the department.

Roache said he has had no direct communication with Duffy. But he said an emissary from Duffy’s office visited him at the Lemon Grove station Wednesday and warned him against criticizing Duffy or the current management of the Sheriff’s Department.

Without saying that the warning was tantamount to a political threat, Roache said it would make it extremely difficult for him to wage a campaign against Duffy if he could not speak out about problems with the sheriff or his department.

“From a practical matter, it would be next to impossible,” he said, “unless you have the freedom to address the crucial issues. That would mean some direct reference or criticism of the current Sheriff’s Department’s management and operational policies.”

His attorney, Everett Bobbitt, said the admonition against Roache criticizing Duffy or the Sheriff’s Department violates his client’s right to free speech.

“I think it’s an outrageous infringement upon the First Amendment,” Bobbitt said. “It’s a thinly veiled attempt to prevent criticisms of candidate Duffy and to prevent one of the most qualified people in the county from running against him.”

Bobbitt said he is preparing to file a request early next week for a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to let Roache retain his captain’s position and run for sheriff. According to the policy, no staff members are allowed to run against the sheriff, if that sheriff is seeking reelection.

Duffy earlier this year announced his attention to seek an unprecedented sixth, four-year term as the county’s highest law enforcement official.

Roache, who has been a member of the department for 18 years and serves as captain of the Lemon Grove station, asked Duffy in two recent letters to rescind the policy.

Duffy has personally ignored both letters, Roache said. Instead, Roache said that Duffy on Wednesday sent Sheriff’s Cmdr. Myron A. Klippert to visit him.

Roache said Klippert said “he was coming on behalf of the sheriff,” and then told him that he was to work an eight-hour shift for the department, take an hour for lunch and refrain from any negative public comments about Duffy or the department management.

Roache said that Klippert also indicated that he would be disciplined if he spoke out publicly in a negative way about Duffy or the department.

Klippert, who as commander of the department’s Law Enforcement Operations Bureau is Roache’s direct supervisor, was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment.