Save Our Sheriff

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Tags: jay-lasuer san-diego sos

San Diego County has three sheriff candidates that will face each other in the upcoming primary on June 8th. If no one wins a majority, the top two vote-getters advance to a November runoff.

Retired Undersheriff Jay La Suer strongly backed the Arizona law, which authorizes local law enforcement to check immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that someone is in the country illegally. Bill Gore, the appointed sheriff, and Jim Duffy, a sheriff’s lieutenant on leave, oppose the measure to varying degrees.

Regarding the Arizona crackdown, La Suer said violence by those tied to drug smuggling and human trafficking has created an intolerable situation along the border. “We cannot turn our backs on the fact that we have this problem,” he said at a May 5th forum sponsored by the Carlsbad Rotary Club.

• See real time immigration stats

Duffy said he did not back the law but favored more incremental steps at the local level. He said deputies should start checking a person’s immigration status when they are booked into a county jail.

Meanwhile, Gore strongly advocated bolstering rehabilitation programs for convicted criminals, saying it would reduce the state’s recidivism rate and, thus, cut prison costs. Neither Duffy nor La Suer agreed, saying they did not believe hardened criminals can be rehabilitated.

Duffy rejected that notion, contending such programs actually put the public at greater risk. “I don’t believe in rehabilitating someone who has a lifetime of criminal experience,” he said.

La Suer agreed. “We tried rehabilitation (in California) and it didn’t work,” he said.

As they have throughout the campaign, the candidates laid out their crime-fighting and government credentials to make the case that they are most qualified.

La Suer noted his 31 years in law enforcement, along with his time as a state assemblyman and on the La Mesa City Council. Duffy, the son of former Sheriff John Duffy, has worked for law agencies for 27 years and has also served as chief of staff for county Supervisor Ron Roberts. Gore spent 32 years with the FBI and served a short stint with the San Diego County District Attorney before joining the Sheriff’s Department.

The Sheriff’s Department has a staff of 4,000 and oversees a budget of more than $500 million.