Jim Roache: Contentious Sheriff or Hard Worker? : Law Enforcement: Critics assail the new sheriff as distant and insular. But Roache says his money-strapped, problem-plagued department requires his full attention.

Organizers of a ceremony honoring officers killed in the line of duty broke with tradition this year and chose the police chiefs of Carlsbad and San Diego as speakers. Both had lost officers to violent death last year.

For the first time since 1985, when the memorial started, the speeches would not be handled solely by San Diego’s police chief and county sheriff.

The ceremony in Balboa Park included a 21-gun Marine salute, the strains of a U.S. Navy band and the recitation of 53 names, the cumulative list of the county’s honored dead. But, of the 500 people or so who attended, noticeably absent was San Diego County Sheriff Jim Roache.

“I was shocked he didn’t come,” said Charles Kopp, vice president of the San Diego Crime Commission, which sponsors the event. “It was the first time in eight years we didn’t have the sheriff.”

To many in attendance, it was vintage Roache. Uncooperative. Insular. Standoffish.

Rather than appear at the memorial, Roache scheduled a visit to his new headquarters in Kearny Mesa. In an interview, he said he did not appear at the ceremony because he was not scheduled to speak and had forgotten his uniform at home. No harm was intended, and he was not angry, Roache said.

But Roache had sent a memo to his staff reminding them of the memorial and identifying a location where everyone, the sheriff included, would meet so they could march together to the ceremony. His own officers were disgusted. Those who showed up were chagrined.

“There was no excuse for him not to be there,” said one person in attendance. “It was one of the more important events he can attend, and he just blew it.”

Just 17 months into the job, Roache has managed to ostracize himself from a number of top law enforcement officials outside his department, particularly San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen and Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller.

Over that time, he has made a number of decisions that have puzzled those still trying to come to grips with a leadership style that critics say emphasizes his distant and insular personality.

His refusal to become part of a regional crime lab and law-enforcement training academy are viewed as examples of uncooperativeness. His decision to pull detectives out of a task force investigating serial killings angered the San Diego Police Department and the district attorney’s office because all parties had agreed to stick together until July 1.

Although others routinely gather for national, statewide or local law-enforcement conferences, Roache often shows up late or not at all. During a recent round-table discussion in San Jose, he got up and left when the director of San Diego County’s civilian review board spoke.

For his part, Roache says his department does not have the money to do anything more than provide more jail space, which is still severely lacking. His reluctance to put in appearances at conventions, he says, is only due to a lack of time.

Ironically, he says, he would be criticized if he spent too much time out of the office, as did his predecessor John Duffy, who came under attack for traveling out of town every chance he got. Choosing to spend his time rooted in his own affairs, he said, is hardly cause for concern.

“If you’re in office 20 years, you’re well-entrenched, you can afford to go out and glad-hand and socialize and cavort and be a good old boy,” he said. “But I’m a first-term sheriff in an organization that has tons of problems. I’m trying to strike some balance of being part of the overall fraternity and meeting my obligations here. Right now, my only choice I can make is to my obligations here.”

Outside the county, Roache is seen as affable and earnest, though perhaps a bit too timid to get involved in matters of statewide or national importance. But, inside San Diego County, top law-enforcement officials say he has burrowed himself so deeply into the matters of his department that he is unwilling to work with others.

To be sure, the sheriff is saddled with problems like no other agency. His jails are spilling over with inmates, and a new jail that would solve most of his crowding problem cannot be opened because there’s no money. His communications system desperately needs replacing, at a cost of $50 million. His deputies are among the lowest-paid law-enforcement officers in the county. Many patrols cars are literally falling apart.

“I will tell you that he has a tremendously difficult job to do with an organization that has little or no resources,” said Carlsbad Police Chief Robert Vales, who added that any other comments he would make about Roache “wouldn’t do the profession any good.”

But, in other areas that don’t require money, such as showing up at a meeting or a memorial service or at least appearing to work with other chiefs, Roache is lacking, some say.

“I try to work with him, but let me tell you, it’s a real struggle,” said one chief, who like many others interviewed for this story, refused to be identified because he has to maintain a professional relationship with Roache.

“You can’t tell him a thing because he knows it all,” the chief said. “He had all the problems that John Duffy had and none of his sense of humor.”

That Roache is being compared unfavorably to his predecessor, John Duffy, sheriff for 20 years, is not surprising. Although the media and the public found many of Duffy’s actions in office objectionable, law-enforcement officials believed Duffy to be an outstanding sheriff for most of his tenure.

Two chiefs, one from a large department and one from a small agency, both suggested that the media incorrectly portrayed Roache as a savior and never considered that he might have a difficult time making the leap overnight from a sheriff’s captain to the top commander.

Still others question some of his administrative choices: Jay LaSuer, a captain in Poway who is now the undersheriff but unpopular with deputies; Dan Greenblat, a political consultant with no law-enforcement experience who is now a special assistant and helps craft policy; and Maudie Bobbitt, a captain who had been disciplined for overseeing a group of deputies who allegedly beat inmates in the late 1980s. Bobbitt’s suspension was later revoked by the county’s Civil Service commission.

Bobbitt and LaSuer were two of Roache’s few political supporters when he ran for sheriff in 1990. Greenblat had formed a friendship with Roache’s wife, Jeannette, who also worked on many political campaigns.

“He has so many experienced people over there who know what to do, but he’s not using them,” said one of the county’s top law-enforcement officials. “He’s a personable guy, and he tries to do good things, but he’s getting bad advice.”

In many ways, the county’s sheriff has to get along with two major figures--the chief of the San Diego Police Department and the district attorney--for his department to run smoothly.

The San Diego Police Department is a larger and much richer agency than the Sheriff’s Department and is able to provide training and other resources that benefit other departments.

And sheriff’s officials must have a good working relationship with the district attorney’s office for successful prosecution.

In both areas, Roache’s relationship is strained.

Both Bob Burgreen and Edwin Miller decline to comment on the sheriff’s performance, but Roache acknowledges that Miller is displeased that the sheriff chooses not to be part of regional forensics crime lab that would help make cases for every department in the county.

“I know Mr. Miller is very non-complimentary to me behind the scenes although he’s never said anything to my face,” Roache said. “Come on Ed, I’m a big boy, and so are you. Tell me what you’ve got to say.”

Burgreen is unhappy that the sheriff’s office will not be part of a regional academy that would provide training for everyone, Roache said.

“I’ve made it abundantly clear that, whether it be a regional academy, regional lab or whatever, the most important issue affecting everyone in this region is the lack of adequate jails. I know I’m making these guys angry, but absolutely nothing comes ahead of my jails. If that means I’m not cooperative, I’m not cooperative.”

Police officials are also angry because sheriff’s administrators refuse to provide laundry and food service for inmates at a newly opened, privately run city jail, even though the city is willing to pay. Roache and LaSuer say they cannot legally provide some of the services, and, when they figured out what they could provide, the costs to the city would have been exorbitant.

Roache further annoyed San Diego police and district attorney representatives by pulling his detectives out early of a tri-agency task force dedicated to solving a string of prostitute serial killings.

With its own 175 unsolved murders in the past five years, Roache and LaSuer said they had stayed in the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force a year longer than they wanted.

“We could not tolerate the deterioration that was occurring within the department,” LaSuer said.

One chief, who runs one of the smaller departments in the county, said every agency used to benefit from the “friendly rivalry” between the Sheriff’s Department under Duffy and the San Diego Police Department under then-Chief Bill Kolender.

“Usually, the sheriff and the San Diego chief are the two major leaders and are willing to share resources and make regional policy, which helps all of us,” he said. “But Jim has isolated the sheriff’s office and has not played the role of a leader. He seems to be saying, ‘I’m willing to listen, but not to participate.’ ”

Besides the district attorney’s office, the San Diego Police Department and several smaller departments, Roache has managed to anger the state attorney general’s office when it seemed unnecessary to do so.

State prosecutors took issue with Roache after he let his staff release an 18-year-old convicted drunk driver from jail this year to electronic home surveillance, even though she had been sentenced to a year for killing someone.

When the head of the San Diego attorney general’s office, Gary Schons, called Roache to set up a meeting, the sheriff replied, “It’s none of your business” and accused Schons during a court hearing of applying political pressure, a charge Schons called ridiculous.

At a recent meeting in San Jose of sheriffs who had invited the executive director of San Diego County’s civilian review board to speak, Roache got up and walked out. He said he did not want to get drawn into a discussion about the civilian panel, but he ended up perplexing others in the room by his behavior.

Eileen Luna, the executive director, said Roache never explained why he had to leave.

At a statewide level, Roache has yet to emerge as a major player or to help shape state law, as Duffy once did.

“He has taken the posture of focusing internally into San Diego County,” said Escondido Chief Vince Jimno, the new president of the state Police Officers Assn. “I don’t see him as an active player in statewide issues.”

Jimno ran for sheriff in 1990, along with Roache and former Assistant Sheriff Jack Drown, now Coronado’s chief of police.

Some believe Roache has been exceptionally slow to take a leadership role in California, especially since he represents its second-most populous county.

“He needs to spend some more time peddling his wares,” said a Southern California sheriff. “He needs to let people know he is the sheriff of San Diego County. He comes off as timid in a group, which has caused some people to think he’s not tough enough and quick enough to grasp his niche in society.”

However, Imperial County Sheriff Orrin R. Fox says the issues within the county weigh heavily on Roache’s mind.

“He appears to be sincere about his job, and he worries a lot about the things that are going on in San Diego County,” Fox said. “Money is a big problem for him, and he talks about jails almost every time we meet. And he’s got a national conference coming up that he has to host. That is a monumental task.”

The National Sheriff’s Assn. conference, which begins a week from today, is expected to draw 1,200 members. It took Roache by surprise, he said, because Duffy never informed him it was coming to San Diego. Duffy and others say Roache and his staff knew of the convention all along.

In any event, Roache raised eyebrows when he solicited money from the state sheriff’s association to help put on the event. LaSuer made a separate pitch at a meeting among undersheriffs. Both groups rejected his request.

The solicitations struck many in the organizations as unusual and unprofessional because agencies hosting the national event usually find money from local sources to put on the convention. Besides, the convention is also funded though membership dues and by exhibitors, such as Smith & Wesson, Ford Motor and others.

Bud Meeks, executive director of the National Sheriff’s Assn., said Roache and his staff have been “very very helpful for us and our operation.”

Roache says he asked for money several times because there are events outside the convention that must be paid for, and his department doesn’t have the funds.

Internally, captains and commanders gripe about the apparent lack of communication from above, particularly from Roache and LaSuer.

In recent weeks, LaSuer came up with a plan to create eight new chief deputy positions, a layer of administration above the commanders. Some of the commanders saw the move as a way for the sheriff and undersheriff to hire more employees beholden to both men.

Roache and LaSuer said the plan, to be implemented over several years, is a means of dividing the department’s workload, and was even suggested by one of the commanders. As for the communication gap, Roache and LaSuer say their doors are always open but they are rarely visited by subordinates.

One sheriff’s official says LaSuer is the problem with the organization, not Roache.

“Jim is a very bright and capable man,” he said. “He’s very likable and wants to be liked. He’s talented and has a wife who can move things politically. But he’s picked someone (LaSuer) to run the organization who is far less talented and polarizes people. If you’re not part of his clique, you’re against him.”

Almost nothing angers Roache more than criticism of LaSuer.

“The undersheriff has an awful lot of hostility and resentment reaped upon him that he didn’t deserve, and it’s not fair,” Roache said. “If people have problems with him, they should be coming to talk to me instead of sniping and rumor-mongering about the undersheriff. If you have the courage of your convictions, have enough courage to sit down in front of me and tell me the problems.”

But those under Roache say he does not take criticism well, and they fear retaliation.

“When Duffy was here, we all wanted a change,” said one top officer. “As much as we liked Duffy, we were ready for a change, whether it be Jack Drown or Jim Roache. We were just hoping it would be a change for the better.”