Duffy Won’t Seek Reelection : Law Enforcement: In an angry statement, the San Diego County sheriff blames the media for driving him from an office he has held since 1971.

Accused in recent months of abusing his authority, San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy surprisingly announced Monday that he has “unequivocally and irrevocably” decided not to run for an unprecedented sixth term.

Duffy, in a hastily called press conference, stood before a group of reporters and, his eyes slightly tearing, bitterly and angrily blamed the media for questioning whether public money helped finance his home security system.

He also criticized the media for singling him out in reports about his frequent trips outside the county and for not disclosing income as a private consultant.

“They’re interested in driving me from office, and they’ve done it,” he 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 close tutelage, to immediately say he will join three other candidates in filing for the June primary.

Duffy’s unexpected announcement also brought sharp and conflicting reactions from others in San Diego. Those who have supported Duffy said his departure will be a blow to professional law enforcement; 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 for years criticized the sheriff. “He really is not a player anymore.

“And so, 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 Bill Cowling, a strong Duffy backer and long active in the Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Assn., said, “He’s the greatest law enforcement officer there’s ever been.

“He’s probably looked at as one of the leading law enforcement figures in America. He’s tough. He’s exacting. He says it as it is. And you’re not going to b.s. him.”

The 59-year-old Duffy was born in Galveston, Tex., and his family moved to San Diego when he was 3 months old. After high school graduation, he served in the Marines during the Korean War. He returned to San Diego and, in May, 1953, was appointed and sworn in as a deputy sheriff.

He rose over the years to captain. In 1970, he won the office of sheriff in a closely fought race, and, in January, 1971, was sworn in as the county’s 26th sheriff.

Reporters originally suspected that Duffy called the Monday press conference to announce his intention to 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 at first won--the court order because he feared The Times would publish detailed information about his new home in Scripps Ranch that could invade his privacy and put his family’s safety in jeopardy.

But, when reporters assembled at the sheriff’s headquarters, it became clear that Duffy’s intentions were different. He 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, place 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 specifically took issue with The Times, saying, “I don’t trust them to protect me.”

“I have therefore decided unequivocally and irrevocably that I will not be a candidate for reelection,” he said.

“That is the best option for me and my family and our security and privacy. To trust the media to be honorable and considerate of those concerns would be foolish and reckless with what I value above all else.”

“The Los Angeles Times,” he added, “has been able to accomplish what the Union-Tribune and a couple of other media could not. They got close enough to what really counts in my life to drive me from office.”

Dale Fetherling, editor of the San Diego County Edition of The Times, reiterated Monday that the newspaper never sought to place the sheriff or his family in jeopardy, adding that the paper also was not out to get Duffy to leave office.

“The Times clearly was not trying, contrary to the sheriff’s remarks, to drive anyone from office,” he said. “The Times was merely asking questions and trying to report the news.”

Of Duffy’s sudden announcement not to seek reelection, Fetherling added: “I believe we are worthy neither of credit nor condemnation in regard to this latest development.”

Duffy said he will continue to receive his full salary, amounting to more than $90,000 a year, under the county’s retirement system and said “it will cost the taxpayers double the money, I might add,” to pay his retirement and the salary of the new sheriff.

He denied that he was dropping out of the race for fear of losing. He made that assertion at the same time that he accused a reporter and a candidate for sheriff--neither of whom he identified--of having a “cozy relationship.”

“I believe very strongly that I could defeat any and all of the jackals who haven’t the courage to kill their own prey but rely upon others to provide them something to feed upon,” he said.

Just last week, in fact, Duffy said he still planned to pursue his candidacy, despite his loss in court over the temporary restraining order. But the events of last week, including a press conference Wednesday in which he displayed firearms and joked that he had unloaded them so he wouldn’t be tempted to use them on the media, apparently were overwhelming.

He said he discussed the situation with his two daughters on Thursday and a son on Friday. He said he and his wife, Linda, had been talking of little else. He said he informed Drown, one of three assistant sheriffs, on Friday of his decision to withdraw from the race.

Although conceding that he was still emotional about the recent barrage of negative press about him, he added: “This was a cool, calm, calculated decision, based on adding up pluses and adding up minuses.”

His announcement stunned most of the officials who in the last 20 years have watched his leadership in the Sheriff’s Department.

Skip Murphy, president of the Deputy Sheriffs Assn., said he always found Duffy to be accessible and professional. But he said the sheriff has, in recent years, lost much of the backing of his rank-and-file officers.

“We’ve got a real split,” Murphy said. “We’ve got a real mix. Some would follow him into the ocean. Others don’t care for him at all.”

In recent years, Duffy and his department have been harshly criticized on several fronts. Jail crowding and allegations of deputies harassing inmates led to a county Grand Jury report criticizing Duffy’s management style.

Concerns have also surfaced over the years about Duffy’s tight control over who receives gun permits in the county, the clout given his Honorary Deputy Sheriffs Assn., and allegations that he was friendly to organized crime, which eventually led to his resignation from a presidential commission on organized crime in the early 1980s.

In 1986, a judge ruled that Duffy illegally used sheriff’s deputies to distribute post cards opposing California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

There have also been fiery confrontations between Duffy and the county Board of Supervisors, which sets the annual budget for the Sheriff’s Department.

Supervisor George Bailey, who has often sparred with Duffy, referred recent newspaper polls that showed an erosion in Duffy’s support and said it makes political sense for Duffy to step down.

“Anybody can read the signs, anybody can read the polls,” Bailey said. “Frankly, Duffy’s a good cop. But he’s not that good of an administrator. That’s come out many, many times.”

Others were stronger Monday in summing up Duffy’s tenure as sheriff.

In offering his personal views, Everett Bobbitt, an attorney who has represented some deputies in discipline matters against the department, said:

“I’ve noticed a significant change in him in the last few years. He lost touch with reality. He lost touch with police work. He lost interest. The image I had of him before was that he was not arrogant and was approachable. That’s all changed.”

Jim Butler of Vista, one of many who is suing the Sheriff’s Department, accusing deputies of assaulting him, said he believes Duffy is stepping down because of something he is hiding.

“Obviously, the press was getting too close to him,” Butler said. “And he doesn’t like that.”

Mike Marrinan, a criminal defense attorney, added: “The man was arrogant. So I look forward to there being some changes in the Sheriff’s Department, and hopefully for a system that will be accountable.”

Duffy has his supporters, too.

San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen said, “John Duffy has been a friend and colleague for a number of years, and we will miss him in the law enforcement profession.”

Cowling, long active in the Honorary Deputy Sheriffs Assn., rejected any arguments that Duffy has not been sympathetic to the public and accessible as a law enforcement leader.

“If I called him a hundred times a year with law enforcement questions, I’d get 100 answers before we hung up. Many others call you back. Many others never call you back. But Duffy would give you the answer if it was within his reach.”

Drown, the assistant sheriff whom Duffy said he will support next year, said the sheriff “has done some very good things for San Diego County.”

“We certainly have progressed,” Drown said. “Instead of having one jail, we have six jails. We are far more community-oriented than we were.

“We’ve come a long, long way under John Duffy, and nobody should take that away from him.”

But Duffy, in announcing his withdrawal Monday, indicated that the media have for too long overlooked the positive aspects of his work in the Sheriff’s Department, choosing instead to dwell on the negative.

Asked specifically about any motivation on the part of The Times in its recent coverage, Duffy said:

“They don’t like me because I fulfill the office of the sheriff the way the (county) charter says. I don’t court them, and I simply don’t kiss their butts. I’ll leave this office with my principles intact.”

Times staff writer Amy Wallace contributed to this article.

WHO WILL BE the next sheriff? B1