Sheriff’s Reservist Arrested in Theft : Crime: Deputy accused of stealing $1,300 in clothing from Spring Valley K mart where he worked as a guard.

In the latest piece of bad news for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, a four-year reserve deputy was arrested Wednesday night and accused of stealing $1,300 worth of clothing from the K mart where he worked as a security guard.

Reserve Deputy Phillip Forde, 37, resigned from the force Thursday morning in his jail cell before being released. His wife, Juanita, 32, was arrested in the same incident and released Thursday from the Las Colinas Jail.

The couple live in South San Diego, three blocks from National City. Forde worked out of the Lemon Grove substation.

Sheriff’s deputies said they watched a man toss bags over a fence behind a K mart in Spring Valley 15 minutes after its 9 p.m. closing time. Another person was behind the wheel of a car nearby, they said.

They reportedly stopped the car and discovered clothing on hangers with the tags attached but no receipts.

The driver was identified as Juanita Forde, and deputies found her 15-month-old child in the car beside her. Investigators said they later determined that Phillip Forde had been loading the clothing into the car, but they could not say exactly how they made the connection.

Sheriff Jim Roache called Phillip Forde “a disgrace to the uniform and to the community. He has violated the trust which our county has placed in him. He has compromised his family and deserves no sympathy from any of us.”

Phillip Forde could not be reached for comment.

For several months, Roache has found himself attempting to explain a series of negative incidents involving his deputies.

Last Friday, a nine-year deputy threatened to jump off the Coronado Bridge before he surrendered. In August, two off-duty correctional deputies allegedly doused two college students with beer and fought with them at a Padres game.

In July, an “emotionally unstable” 11 1/2-year deputy with a handgun held officers at bay for two hours. An officer was arrested earlier that month for drunk driving in an accident in which another deputy was killed. Another off-duty officer, with nine years on the department, was shot and killed while robbing an Encinitas home.

“We try to screen people out,” Roache said. “But we are dealing with human beings here, and human beings change. There are factors about people we don’t know and will never know. Until such time as we are clairvoyant and can read people’s minds, I don’t know what we can ever do.”

The sheriff has suggested psychological screenings for officers after they’ve been hired, but conceded that medical professionals differ on whether such tests adequately predict behavior. Because of a manpower shortage, background checks are grossly insufficient, he said, adding that deputies are being hired with four hours of investigation rather than the required state standard of 40 hours.

Regardless of screening, Roache said he is “disgusted” by the latest arrest and called a press conference to discuss it.

“Callousness, illegality, misconduct and disregard for the public trust . . . will not be tolerated,” he said. “Nobody in the law enforcement community can condone illegal acts and criminal behavior.”

Forde was in the reserve deputy program, one of 330 officers who are given badges, guns and training but no pay to help assist the department’s 1,400 full-time, paid deputies. They have limited police powers, depending on their level of training.

Just this week, Roache lamented the demise of the program to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, saying it had few resources and equipment to help those who have volunteered to participate.

With a budget of $226,669 a year, Roache said the money allocated for San Diego County sheriff’s reserves is far less than allotted by other California counties. One lieutenant and two sergeants are assigned to manage the program, which has seen a decline in membership over several years.

“This department and this county have ignored the reserve program for many, many years because we have failed to dedicate resources and manpower . . . to that unit and to assure that it’s a vibrant, effective organization,” he said. “We have allowed it to slowly but surely deteriorate because of neglect.”

Though the Sheriff said he is not suggesting that a better program might have prevented Thursday’s arrest, he nonetheless is seeking to improve standards for the reserve patrol.

“This incident should not be construed to be an indictment of the reserve program,” he said. “The members of the reserve deputy program are dedicated and hard-working private citizens who lend their free time to supporting law enforcement in San Diego County.”

After Forde was arrested, deputies confiscated his department-issued equipment and concealed-weapon permit. He had been working full-time as a K mart security guard at the time of his arrest.

“I know the members of this department are hurt personally and professionally by this incident,” Roache said. “As those who are sworn to uphold the law, we are deeply hurt when one of our own goes bad.”