Hiring Policy Must Change, Roache Says

Disturbed by problems befalling several of his deputies in recent weeks, San Diego County Sheriff Jim Roache said Tuesday that his 1,349-member department has to work harder to attract a higher quality of law enforcement officer or suffer the consequences.

“I don’t want to condemn anyone, but we’ve got to wonder whether we’ve reaped what we’ve sowed in this department,” he said. “We’ve adopted an attitude in this department, the county government and the public at large that hiring standard or acceptable candidates here is OK. Well, it’s not OK.”

The sheriff said he is not directly linking his comments to the shooting death of Detective Michael Stanewich during a July 3 robbery attempt, the July 7 arrest of an officer for drunken driving in an accident where another deputy was killed, or the chase Monday of an “emotionally unstable” deputy with a handgun who held officers at bay for two hours.

But after those incidents, and others since he became sheriff in January, Roache said he is beginning to wonder whether the problems are symptomatic of the department’s general hiring practices.

“For the sheriff to attract, hire and retain the best, he has to be able to offer a competitive salary,” Roache said. “This agency has been near or at the bottom of the level of pay for six or seven out of the last 10 years. The bright, articulate, well-motivated candidates are being lured by agencies that are paying 10 to 15 percent higher salaries than we are.”

For years, Roache said, he has heard criticism that the Sheriff’s Department has become the “dumping ground” for officers who cannot make it in other law enforcement agencies, and “it makes me mad.”

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies make less in starting salaries than officers with police departments in San Diego, El Cajon, National City, Carlsbad and Oceanside, Roache said. Sheriff’s departments in Orange County, Santa Barbara County, Riverside County and San Bernardino County also pay more, he said.

The problem of offering better salaries has occurred at higher levels too. Last week, Roache hired a new director of corrections to run the county’s six jails. To attract Jim Painter, who once held the same job in Los Angeles County, Roache had to pay Painter $95,000 a year. Roache makes $92,000, and his undersheriff, also outranking Painter, makes $86,000.

The lure of San Diego’s climate has “given us some very bright people, but, far too often, we are hiring people who are not our first choice.”

Money is not the only answer, and Roache said he is responsible for other aspects of job satisfaction, including enabling his employees to achieve career goals. Roache said he also is in charge of making sure that deputies are getting the best training possible.

The recent incidents involving Michael Stanewich and others are unique and different episodes that have no root cause, Roache said.

But Roache said that, in “looking at the next level down from where this lies,” he is troubled by his own perception that the County Board of Supervisors, the County Administrative Office and the department don’t demand better standards for deputies in San Diego.

“I point a finger at the board, the CAO and at the public,” he said. “Nobody is free of some obligation.”