The Choice for Sheriff

For the first time in 52 years there is no incumbent sheriff or inside heir apparent on the ballot. So, on June 2, Orange County voters will have a rare opportunity to elect someone who will bring not only new leadership but most likely a new direction to the sheriff-coroner’s office.

Running for the open seat to replace Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates, who is retiring after 24 years, are Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters and Orange County Marshal Mike Carona. Both candidates have built excellent records of service.

Walters has served in the Santa Ana department, the county’s largest city police agency, for 27 years. He started as a patrol officer and worked his way to the chief’s job 10 years ago. Carona has been with the county marshal’s office for 22 years. He too started at the bottom rung as a deputy, advancing to the top job nine years ago.

Both Walters and Carona also have sound academic credentials to go along with their demonstrated leadership. Orange County is fortunate that it has two solid candidates vying for an open position. Only one can have the job. So who should be the next sheriff-coroner?

In our view, the choice comes down to this: Carona has good ideas and would make a good sheriff. But Walters brings the police experience that likely would make him a better one.

The sheriff-coroner’s job involves a more complicated operation than either candidate now directs. In addition to its traditional police patrol and investigative duties in the unincorporated areas, the department also operates the coroner’s office. That requires investigating all violent deaths and, depending on circumstances, some natural ones.

The sheriff also runs the county jail system, the harbor patrol, security at John Wayne Airport and the crime lab, which assists all police agencies in the county. And it is contracted by nine of the county’s 31 cities to serve as their municipal police department.

That argues for the more extensive police background that Walters brings. He has the knowledge and experience as a street cop and administrator that is needed to run such a front-line police operation successfully. Walters has proven that again and again in his 10 years as Santa Ana’s chief. He has earned national recognition for his innovative approaches to policing, his use of new technology in crime fighting and for involving residents with his officers in the Community Oriented Policing (COP) approach.

The city’s program has been so successful that the federal Department of Justice has selected Santa Ana as a national model and a training agency for other law enforcement departments in the nation. Walters surely would bring a community-policing approach with him to the sheriff’s field operation.

The need exists, considering that new sheriff’s deputies, after completing their training at the police academy, are assigned to County Jail duties for several years before going out on patrol. That puts them out of touch with the general community. The COP program could help speed their orientation back into the neighborhoods.

Walters reduced Santa Ana’s crime rate to the lowest in the nation for a city of its size. In the last six years major crime has decreased by more than 50%. He also has had great success attacking Santa Ana’s gang problems. In the last three years, Walters’ Street Terrorist and Offender Project (STOP) has reduced gang crime by more than 75%. And gang-related deaths also have been significantly reduced.

Walters knows how to patrol neighborhoods, investigate crimes and operate a jail. He is approachable and innovative. He welcomes new ideas. He surrounds himself with a strong staff, and is wise enough to seek in his associates any skills he may feel he lacks.

And he has the strong backing of the law enforcement community, including the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the men and women he will command if elected.

The sheriff’s job, however, involves more than just reducing the crime rate. In addition to being a tough law enforcement official, the sheriff-coroner must be in touch with the human aspects of the job. Those close to the chief say that beneath Walters’ sometimes hard exterior is a person extremely sensitive to people. He cares. That’s a vital qualification.

With the community’s constant concern about crime, Walters’ abilities, experience and record of success make him the right person at the right time to be Orange County’s new sheriff-coroner.