San Diego Sheriff Drops Election Bid, Blasts the Media

After almost two decades in office but besieged in recent months by allegations of poor management, San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy unexpectedly announced Monday that he will not seek reelection.

Duffy stood before a group of reporters and, his eyes tearing over, blamed the media for focusing on his frequent trips outside the county, his undisclosed income as a private consultant and questions about whether county taxpayers may have paid for part of his home security system.

“They’re interested in driving me from office, and they’ve done it,” the five-term sheriff said. “The media has won. Let’s concede it.”

News of his decision to pull out of next year’s race prompted Jack Drown, an assistant sheriff who has worked for 20 years under Duffy’s tutelage, to say he will join three other candidates in filing for the June primary.

Duffy’s unexpected announcement brought the lament from supporters that his departure will be a blow to professional law enforcement, but many of his enemies said his exit comes none too soon.

“Duffy has now stepped into the pages of history,” said Mike Aguirre, a San Diego lawyer who has criticized the sheriff for years. “He really is not a player anymore.

“Locally, he will be remembered basically as a bully, as someone who was in office too long and misused his position. He will be remembered as the J. Edgar Hoover of San Diego law enforcement.”

But William Cowling, a strong Duffy backer and long active in the Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Assn., called Duffy “the greatest law enforcement officer there’s ever been.”

The 59-year-old Duffy has been a member of the Sheriff’s Department since 1953 and was first elected sheriff in 1970, while still a captain.

He called the press conference Monday for what was expected to be his announcement that he would appeal a judge’s decision last week lifting a temporary restraining order preventing the Los Angeles Times from publishing an article about his home security system.

The sheriff had sought--and obtained--the court order because he feared The Times would publish detailed information about his new home in Scripps Ranch that, he said, could invade his privacy and jeopardize his family’s safety.

But when reporters assembled at the sheriff’s headquarters, Duffy began reading a long prepared statement in which he blasted the media and the “multimillion-dollar, profit-making corporation” that runs The Times. He charged that recent publicity about his home security, coupled with the judge’s decision to lift the restraining order, places him and his wife in danger of being harmed by intruders.

“The power of the media in this country is awesome and is a threat to every American,” he said.

He singled out The Times, saying, “I don’t trust them to protect me.”