Contents

1. 1 Protecting the Public
   1. 1.1 Violence Against Women and Children
   2. 1.2 Gangs
   3. 1.3 Victims Rights
   4. 1.4 Expanding Services
   5. 1.5 Reserve Deputies & Volunteer Services
   6. 1.6 Budget
   7. 1.7 Weapon Permits
   8. 1.8 Prisoner Release

Protecting the Public

I have dedicated my life protecting the public. As Sheriff, my first priority will be to protect the families of El Dorado County.

Violence Against Women and Children

Some of the most vulnerable members of our community, violence against women and children must be prevented. I support programs that provide education, counseling, and protection to those who may fall victim to violent relationships.  Those perpetrating these crimes must be brought to justice swiftly and punished.  For more information, please visit "The Center for Violence-free Relationships".

Sexual Predators

As Sheriff, I’ll not only be working to prevent sex crimes, but I’ll be closely monitoring those in our community with histories of perpetrating sex crimes and crimes against children.  

Gangs

Early identification of gang activity and zero tolerance of gangs in El Dorado County are the first steps to preventing the spread of gangs in our community. Spending resources today to stop early gang activity will save our community from the gang activity that is crippling other communities both financially and socially.  I will tenaciously pursue those involved in organized criminal activity and assist with their immediate relocation - to either jail or out of our county!

Victims Rights

The rights of crime victims must be protected prior to, during, and even after the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator. It’s bad enough that they were victimized by the criminal, they shouldn’t be victimized by the criminal justice system as well.

Expanding Services

The current budget crisis is no excuse for limiting the law enforcement services that our community expects and deserves. Funding for additional officers, training,weapons, K-9 units, and equipment is available from grants and non-profit organizations throughout the United States. As a Chief, I’m proud of my record to secure external sources of public safety funding. 

Reserve Deputies & Volunteer Services

Services which may be deliverable through volunteer workers, reserve deputies, or the department’s correctional officers must play a significant role in improving service delivery. I will actively recruit deputies to join our ranks as volunteers, modeling ours after other very successful reserve deputy programs.  Duties of our STAR volunteers will also be expanded to take full advantage of the tremendous skills they offer. Many counties throughout the state provide their professional volunteers with similar challenging opportunities which we will adopt under my leadership.

Budget

My goal will be to fill each of the 12-vacant deputy positions, and achieve this without an increase in net county costs. Therefore, I will direct an immediate and complete fiscal audit in order to identify savings that can instead be applied to refill vacant deputy positions. I will create a "Grant Writing Unit" comprised of volunteers who will assist me in tenaciously pursuing every public and private grant, and partnering with state and federal agencies to reduce the burden on local taxpayers for supplemental law enforcement services. Positions must be reclassified in favor filling vacant deputy positions. I will reduce my pay to $1 above that of the Undersheriff, a savings of over $27,300 each year, to help pay for a deputy position. Purchase and allocation of equipment and vehicles must be immediately addressed, here too is an opportunity for immediate savings. These are just a few examples of the long list of fiscal changes I will immediately deliver to the Sheriff's Department!

Weapon Permits

No longer will additional local requirements be imposed as a condition of permit issuance. I will implement a new weapon permit policy, consistent with the state and federal law, and make it available to the public and online within one hour of my taking office. The expectation of a permit requester will be to simply comply with existing State law (e.g., be of sound mind and satisfactorily complete the State mandated firearms training & background check). 

Prisoner Release

An estimated 3,000 prisoners will soon be released into our six-county region, inclusive of El Dorado County, to help relieve state prison overcrowding. I will immediately implement a plan to partner with local and state probation departments and aggressively monitor and check on these prisoners who have an estimated 80% recidivism rate. I will partner with local probation officials and state agencies to do everything possible to keep your families safe, to monitor those released onto our streets, and to make room for prisoners being diverted from prison into our crowded county jail facilities.