HEMMERLING FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF

Since 2006, more than 210 inmates have died at jails run by the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department, the vast majority while Bill Gore was sheriff from 2009 to February of this year. Yet three years ago when a six-month investigation by The San Diego Union-tribune showed the county had the highest jail-mortality rate among large California counties, Gore rejected the findings and the criticism of his jail stewardship. His basic response? How dare you. This year, with people still dying in his jails at a rate of more than one a month, he rejected similar findings by the Office of the State Auditor, questioning its methodology and insulting the auditors in his department’s formal response. Dozens of people might still be alive had Gore truly acknowledged and addressed systemic failures.

By year’s end, that challenge will fall to one of three major candidates seeking the job Gore slunk away from on the day the state audit dropped. They are Undersheriff Kelly Martinez, who began running after Gore asked her to and who touts his endorsement as if it weren’t Kryptonite; retired Sheriff ’s Commander Dave Myers, who lost an election to Gore in 2018 after 33 years in the department but whose campaign and preparedness are stronger now, and John Hemmerling, a retired Marine Corps reservist and ex-cop turned top lawyer.

Hemmerling commanded a battalion that processed 6,000-plus detainees — or more than the prepandemic population of San Diego County’s jails — without incident in Iraq. He spent eight-plus years as a beat cop in Mid-city and nearly eight as legal adviser to the chief of the San Diego Police Department. As chief criminal prosecutor at the City Attorney’s Office, he’d bring an outsider’s perspective.

For those who don’t think an outsider is crucial to reforming county jails, consider this: Despite promises from first Martinez and then acting Sheriff Anthony Ray that a new era was at hand, nine more jail deaths have occurred since Gore’s exit. That’s double the rate of his terrible tenure — and confirms the department has a cultural problem — not just a Gore problem — when it comes to taking basic steps to ensuring inmates leave jail cells alive. It underscores the need for sweeping change in the agency.

This is why The San Diego Union-tribune Editorial Board cannot endorse Martinez for a four-year term as sheriff. The idea of the first woman to run the department has appeal, and the 37-year department veteran should not pay for Gore’s sins. But she is clearly no change agent. When we asked why she didn’t push back on Gore as his No. 2 when he was drafting his dismissive response to the state audit, she said that wasn’t her role. If ever there were a red flag that she would be more of the same, that’s it.

Myers, on the other hand, deserves credit for zeroing in on department management shortcomings years ago when Gore was widely deferred to. Now Myers wants a thorough review of jail practices that extends beyond the audit findings and an immediate adoption of policies that have sharply reduced deaths at jails elsewhere. In a candidate survey and a subsequent interview, he showed a command of many issues. He calls it “a complete failure of leadership” that the department hadn’t acted in response to findings that people of color are stopped, searched and subjected to force by deputies at higher rates than their White counterparts, as documented in a report the department released in December. He also said he’d prioritize fostering “diversity and empowerment” within the agency’s ranks. While Hemmerling made similar statements — vowing zero tolerance for deputies who demonstrate bias — this issue seems personal to Myers. Myers’ views about the Sheriff ’s Department keeping its distance from the agenda and activities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were also more forceful and concise than Hemmerling’s.

But whereas Hemmerling supports changes — as we do — to well-meaning but widely panned criminal justice reforms like Propositions 47 and 57, Myers sees no reason to change them. And more concerning, Myers has repeatedly alleged without proof that Martinez improperly ordered the eviction of a San Ysidro renter at a property owned by a couple who lived — like Martinez — in Fallbrook. This — let’s call it what it is, absent any evidence — conspiracy theory by someone who aspires to such a powerful position in law enforcement should be a red flag for those expecting nuance and fair-mindedness.

Hemmerling has a depth and breadth of experience the others can’t match. And he has outlined his own plans for profound changes at county jails, starting with identifying and protecting at-risk inmates, better intake screening and medical care, and a zero-tolerance — his words again — approach to drugs and deaths in the local jails.

In his interview, Hemmerling emphasized the need for a comprehensive change in department leadership and his plan to surround himself with a senior staff with the “same philosophy” and “same mindset.” He comes across as a no-nonsense leader who will have high expectations for his department and how it performs — and respect for all. “Not everyone in San Diego County has the luxury of positive and proactive law enforcement support,” he wrote in his Q&A. “Equal protection is not just a constitutional issue, it’s a public safety issue.”

Hemmerling has the right credentials, perspective, temperament and approach to be a change agent in a beleaguered agency that badly needs it. We believe he is the clear, strong choice to be sheriff.