Jim Roache Is Best Candidate for Sheriff’s Job : Experience, Independence Needed for the Monumental Task Facing Duffy’s Successor

If ever a public agency approached a critical moment in its history, it is the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. After 20 years of stewardship by John Duffy, marked in later years by a swaggering arrogance that has permeated the department, Tuesday’s election offers a long-delayed opportunity for reform.

Consider the monumental task facing Duffy’s successor. He must calm public jitters about whether deputies resort to force too quickly or too often. He must reassure the region that our jam-packed jails will contain the people placed there--without routine beatings of inmates. He must patch up a tattered relationship with the County Board of Supervisors. Most of all, he must persuade the citizenry that the Sheriff’s Department will again become accountable, and responsive, to the electorate.

In addition, his efforts will be hamstrung by the question of long-term jail funding, an issue that won’t be resolved until the courts rule on the Proposition A lawsuit. He will face questions on whether a new civilian review board should be established and whether to exercise more discretion in the distribution of concealed gun permits.

In truth, much change will be accomplished by the departure of the imperious Duffy, who decided not to seek reelection rather than face public scrutiny of his policies and behavior. None of the five candidates to succeed Duffy, including his protege, Assistant Sheriff Jack Drown, shows anything like his demeanor.

But someone must complete the job, under very difficult circumstances. We believe that Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Roache is the right choice.

Roache, a 19-year employee of the Sheriff’s Department, offers this unique combination of assets: he may be the outsider needed to clean house at the department, with an insider’s knowledge of how the task can be accomplished. Roache has come up through the department’s ranks, gaining experience and demonstrating leadership while holding several administrative posts. He has worked in the jails and patrolled the streets. Later, he ran the downtown jail. He is now in charge of the Sheriff’s Lemon Grove substation.

Yet Roache is not part of the Duffy old-boy network that has run the department for so long. In fact, he had to sue Duffy to change a policy that would have prevented him from running for sheriff, after showing the courage to announce his intention to run for office before Duffy decided to retire. We are hopeful that Jim Roache will not preserve the status quo.

Roache, who holds a law degree, also has experience as an elected policy-maker. As a member of the San Diego city school board, he has earned high marks for hard work and open-mindedness--belying the image of a right-wing ideologue he brought with him upon election in 1986.

Roache also showed foresight with his early endorsement of a civilian review board. Our only major disagreement with him is that he does not support a separate Department of Corrections.

Because the Deputy Sheriffs Assn. has endorsed Drown, Roache would face the task, if elected, of winning over a force that supported his opponent. He also would have to build bridges to the sizable and powerful network of Duffy supporters throughout the county.

Drown would not confront such problems. And, as a 20-year veteran of the department, his knowledge and experience are certainly equal to Roache’s.

But, as much as he tries to distance himself from his boss, Drown owes his station and many of his campaign advantages to Duffy. Certainly he has

tapped into some of the same financial sources that Duffy has used in previous campaigns. Voters must ask themselves this question: even when Duffy cleans out his desk, how much influence would he or his allies have over department policy with Drown in charge?

Escondido Police Chief Vince Jimno also makes a strong case that he is the man to clean up the Sheriff’s Department. As a total outsider, and one with demonstrated knowledge of managing police departments in Carlsbad and Escondido, he makes a strong case. But his qualifications are not as impressive as Roache’s.

Former San Diego Police Chief Ray Hoobler has the experience and know-how necessary to manage a law enforcement agency the size of the Sheriff’s Department. But Hoobler resigned under a cloud in 1975, when he came under fire for lying about reviewing confidential files of police counselors. Carlsbad police officer Jim Messenger lacks the experience for the job.

With five candidates involved, Tuesday’s primary likely will yield two finalists for a November runoff, not a new sheriff. But it may serve as something of a referendum on John Duffy’s tenure and provide a preview of how much change San Diegans can expect in the years ahead.