Darren Thompson is a born professional.
Darren Thompson is a born professional.
As San Benito County sheriff, Thompson would command respect as a leader. He has the right experience in overseeing officers and the range of responsibilities that comes with management. He would offer a supreme level of integrity. And he is best suited to handle the many complexities – gang crimes, budget cuts and prospective partnerships with the city police department – in the years to come.
Those are some of the reasons Thompson has earned a majority of this board’s endorsement for sheriff in the June primary, while he is among a pool of four candidates qualified for the job.
Those three other candidates – Undersheriff Pat Turturici, Hollister police Sgt. Ray Wood and Marshal Robert Scattini – all have the right qualities to do a good job as sheriff. They have a deep breadth of knowledge about law enforcement and how to combat crime in the area. In recent interviews, none of the candidates left an impression they would walk in with a loose-cannon mentality.
The other three, though, in already working here, have an inherent advantage over Thompson. His biggest challenge in campaigning for the seat left open by the retiring Sheriff Curtis Hill has been getting local residents to know him, because he has spent his entire 22-year career at the Watsonville Police Department. It does not, however, indicate anything about his dedication to the community that he calls home, San Benito County. His long tenure in Watsonville – and a continual succession of promotions – says a lot about his commitment level and how much other leaders respect his management skills. His experience there also translates well in that he has overseen operations in the department – such areas as investigations, task forces, human resources, internal affairs and crime prevention – with 28 personnel and a budget of $3.5 million.
The editorial board queried Thompson and other candidates on such topics as their motivation to run, approaches to gangs, department morale, the recently-defunct Hollister Motorcycle Rally, rural crimes and prospects for a merger on some level between the sheriff’s office and police department.
Thompson stood out in particular regarding gangs and related intelligence, his thoughts on consolidating services, and his plan to manage a department that has faced issues with allegations of discrimination and, more recently, the 2009 rape conviction of former Sgt. Michael Rodrigues.
Regarding gangs, he showed an understanding of their dynamics in the area, gained through regional surveillance partnerships. To combat them, he believes he can improve the office’s techniques, build better relationships to foster the exchange of information with other agencies, and further develop gang-prevention programs. He plans to measure the activity and set goals for addressing the related crimes.
On talk of collaboration with the city police department, Thompson noted how there are ways to immediately improve the sharing of resources – such as with crime-scene investigators, SWAT teams and gang enforcement – and he sees no reason to delay at least studying a future merger between the two law enforcement agencies. If consolidation or a contract of some kind progresses, he would like to see a couple of professional studies done, while he stressed how both sides would have to address such issues as inheriting personnel matters, potential misconduct cases and the variation of equipment between the agencies.
Though carrying a calmer demeanor in his communication style than the other candidates and what Hill has brought to the table the past 12 years, it does not take long in conversation with Thompson, who grew up in a minister’s home, to realize that he is not only genuine about his commitment to the job, but that he also would command respect as a leader on day one. Unlike others, he did not make grandiose statements about accomplishments or goals. He stayed positive and focused on his accomplishments and intentions, and did not try to minimize others’ qualifications.
That style of communication and stated commitment to equality in the department would bring a fresh perspective to an office that has lacked it at times in the past. Aside from gaining encouragement from others late last year after Hill announced his retirement, Thompson acknowledged that department morale, and a drive to improve it, was one of the primary factors in his decision to run.
We believe his motives, leadership abilities, broad scope of knowledge and integrity make Thompson the best candidate for sheriff in the June primary.
