Santa Ana Police Chief Walters Enters Race for County Sheriff

Police Chief Paul M. Walters formally announced Monday that he will run for Orange County sheriff, a move that officially puts him in the race against Orange County Marshal Michael S. Carona.

Walters’ announcement came more than a month after he won the endorsement of his own police officers and of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs.

The 52-year-old chief has been expressing his intentions of entering the race since October, when Sheriff Brad Gates announced he wouldn’t seek reelection to his seventh term. Until then, Walters had headed a steering committee for Carona’s campaign.

“A new era is dawning in the sheriff’s department,” Walters said Monday, referring to Gates’ retirement.

“I am the chief of police of the largest city in Orange County. . . . Your new sheriff must be prepared to anticipate changes and meet the needs of a changing future.”

“I will lead the Sheriff’s Department into that new era,” he said.

Gates endorsed Assistant Sheriff Douglas D. Storm as his successor, but the top lieutenant dropped out of the race last month.

Despite backing Carona for the job initially, Walters expressed doubts that his friend of nine years has the qualifications for the county’s top law enforcement post after heading an agency that deals primarily with courthouse security and serving warrants.

Walters said the new sheriff should have experience as a street cop, be an administrator of a large department and have a background in modern police techniques. He should be able to plan and operate a jail and work with all types of law enforcement agencies, Walters said.

The chief pointed to Santa Ana’s drop in crime--including a 17.5% decrease in violent crime in 1997--and the city’s strides in community policing as examples of his leadership abilities.

Carona, 42, who has won the backing of many of the county’s Republican leaders, including former Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle and state GOP leader Rob Hurtt, was appointed Orange County marshal in 1988.

Carona has brushed off claims that he does not have enough experience to run the second-largest sheriff’s department in the state, saying his 20 years in county government make him “more than qualified” for the job.

As a centerpiece of his campaign, Carona has embraced the idea of privately operated jails as a means of relieving overcrowding.

The election will place a new leader in the nonpartisan seat for the first time in 24 years. In his many elections, Gates ran unopposed in 1994 and usually faced token opposition.