Charles Plummer — respected former sheriff
Retired Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer, an iconic and respected lawman whose fabled “cardinal sins” of what a deputy must never do remain standard training in the department, has died.
Plummer died Sunday in his Oakland home at the age of 87.
A lawman for 54 years in Alameda County, Plummer served as sheriff from 1986 until his retirement in 2007.
He joined the Berkeley police in 1952 and rose to the position of acting chief. He was police chief of Hayward from 1976 until being elected county sheriff in 1986.
To those under his command, he was well known for his “cardinal sins” code of conduct which specified that a deputy or officer must never lie, make offensive ethnic remarks, use drugs, commit sexual harassment or accept “gratuities.” That code is still part of all deputies’ training.
Before their graduation, he would review the list of sins with sheriff ’s academy cadets.
“Commit any of the sins,” former cadets recall him saying, “and I’ll fire you.”
“He was a father figure and the most generous person I ever knew,” said Sgt. J.D. Nelson, who recalled that Plummer was known for handing out $2 bills — his trademark — to homeless people in downtown Oakland and to students he met on visits to Oakland schools.
“He believed that people could get better,” Nelson said. “That’s just the kind of guy he was. And, agree or disagree, you always knew where he stood.”
Plummer enjoyed cigars, enjoyed attending Oakland Raiders and Oakland A’s games and enjoyed taking in the communities he served, on foot.
“Charlie was a man who spoke eloquently and in plain English at the same time,” said Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle. “He was one of a kind.”
Plummer was a native of Fort Bragg (Mendocino County) and a former president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association.
He is survived by his daughter, Pamela Rossi, and by sons Larry and Chris Plummer. His wife, Norma, died in 2017.
A private service is planned.