By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The San Diego Sheriff's Department, with more positions authorized than filled in its current budget, is trying to recruit as many as 200 sworn officers from other jurisdictions, Sheriff Bill Kolender told the San Diego County Honorary Deputy Sheriff's Association today.

Kolender, whose jokes about his being one of the few Jewish sheriffs in the nation are his trademark, said that  law enforcement personnel who qualify to  transfer to his department will get a $5,000 signing bonus.  "Of course, being Jewish, I plan to pay it out $1,000 a year for five years so they don't haul off to somewhere else," Kolender quipped.

Now seeking his fourth four-year term as sheriff, Kolender previously had served as the City of San Diego's police chief and as head of the California Youth Authority.  Political observers do not anticipate that Kolender, 70, will have any difficulty winning reelection to  the non-partisan post, for which he already has been endorsed by most local law enforcement groups as well as District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and the five members of the County Board of Supervisors. Another early endorsement came from San Diego's new mayor, Jerry Sanders, who had worked his way up through the ranks to San Diego police chief—many of his earlier promotions coming during Kolender's tenure as police chief.

The sheriff told a political joke at the luncheon, but he was careful to make it non-partisan.  Republicans, he said, have been passing around a bumper sticker saying that they'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than driving with Teddy Kennedy.   On the Democratic side, the joke about the U.S. Vice President accidentally shooting a companion goes to the effect that they'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than golfing with former President Gerald Ford.  That's one of the kinder ones, of course.

Turning to law enforcement  issues, Kolender said priority will be placed on putting an additional 35 sheriff's deputies in the rural areas of the 4,200-square-mile jurisdiction.. Kolender said this will eliminate a situation that occasionally occurs when a deputy sheriff  may find himself as far as 20 miles from the nearest back up unit.

(According to Sheriff's Capt. Lisa Miller, who is in charge of personnel matters, the Sheriff's Department is 76 people below the authorized strength of 1,096 deputy sheriffs, and 164 persons below the authorized strength of 1,015 detention deputy sheriffs.  Among non-sworn professional staff, 127 personnel must be hired to bring the staff up to its authorized level of 1,572.)

Kolender said that another priority for the coming fiscal year  is increasing the holding capacity of San Diego County jails.  In the last year alone, the local jail bed count has increased from 4,600  to 5,200. "We need more!" he told the Honorary Deputy Sheriffs Association before turning the Valentines Day  luncheon program at the Mission Valley Marriott over to Assistant Sheriff Dennis Runyen, who is retiring from his command of detention facility services.

Runyen indicated the scope of the jail division with some quick statistics  He said 1,500 personnel work in seven jail facilities in the county, which require $177 million annually to operate.  He said 90 more staff positions in the jails remain to be filled.  The overall sheriff's budget is $491 million, a that also includes law enforcement in the unincorporated county areas as well as in contract cities.

The assistant sheriff  said that in 2005, there were 10,000 "new bookings" of inmates.   On the average, there are  5,200 inmates on any given day, each costing taxpayers $95 a day to accommodate.  Pursuant to state legislation, the jails have been taking DNA samples from jail  inmates, with over 10,000 samples taken in just one year, Runyen said.  As a result, "no doubt, unspeakable crimes will be resolved because of this."

One of the highest priorities for the jail program will be  go replace the Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in the suburban city of Santee, Runyen said.  Now capable of housing 800 women, a proposed facility would accommodate 1,200 female prisoners. Before any construction can occur on the existing site, he said, the project must go through the environmental impact report (EIR)  process. 

On the men's side, he said, the sheriff's department will take over facilities for 200 inmates that previously had been administered by the private Corrections Corporation  of America on Otay Mesa, next to the Donovan State Prison.  An additional 1,000 beds in 200-bed increments over the  following five years will be added to the local jail capacity.

Runyen said action is pending in Sacramento to place a bond issue on the California state ballot.

The Honorary Deputy Sheriff's Association is a booster group for the sheriff's department that raises money for supplemental equipment and other programs.  Members receive their "rank" in the honorary organization according to the size of their donations.  Among new inductees at today's meeting was former San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Jones, who was the 1976 National League Cy Young Award Winner. Jones markets a line of barbecue products and also serves in a public relations capacity for the Padres.