GANGS, DRUGS TWO KEY ISSUES

Not only is crime down around the nation, but San Luis Obispo County has
been named the third safest among the 36 largest California counties.

So much for hot-button issues for the two candidates hoping to succeed a
hugely popular sheriff who 12 years ago brought law and order to a
department in disarray.

Still, the new sheriff -- whether it is San Luis Obispo Police Chief Jim
Gardiner or Sheriff's Lt. Pat Hedges -- will face challenges in dealing with
gangs and drugs, two areas of growing concern, according to local law
enforcement officials.

The war against gangs

"Certainly we have a gang problem throughout the county," Capt. David
Albrecht of the sheriff's Gang Task Force said.

While it may not be at the level of Los Angeles, the gang presence here does
mirror that seen in similar-sized counties, he said.

In San Luis Obispo County, gang activity extends beyond establishing turf
and acting against those who show gang members some form of disrespect,
Albrecht said.

"They're also getting to the money aspect, dope sales or stolen property or
whatnot," he said.

Albrecht believes law enforcement's focus on gang problems has largely been
in the South County and should be expanded to all areas of the county.

Additional Gang Task Force resources have allowed the county to identify
more gang problems and help communities, schools and even parents deal with
them. Some projects are undertaken in conjunction with the county Probation
Department.

"We're trying to do a lot of preventative measures, and I think we're making
some inroads," he said.

Both Hedges and Gardiner recognize the problems with gangs and both
recommend, among other things, adding another person to the four-member Gang
Task Force.

"We need to continue to be aware of ( gang activity ) and take immediate
steps to squelch it wherever it does appear," Hedges said. "We need to
actively eradicate the vandalism, the graffiti that may start to appear."

He would also call on schools to help pinpoint potential problems. "We would
continue to work closely with the schools in identifying activity that may
occur on schoolgrounds that could be a precursor to gang activity."

Hedges also said some of the Gang Task Force's efforts have been focused on
problems in cities, at the expense of the rural areas.

Gardiner would like the cities to consider assigning personnel to the Gang
Task Force to bolster the fight against gangs.

"But that's half the solution," he said.

The other half is a cooperative effort by school officials, nonprofit
groups, recreation programs and law enforcement to develop prevention
programs that divert kids away from gang involvement and to help parents who
are looking for guidance.

"We haven't lost this county to gangs, and we need to have the combination
of prevention and enforcement to make sure that we don't," Gardiner said.

Fighting drug use

The use and manufacture of illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine, is
another issue the new sheriff will have to address.

Addictions to drugs or alcohol are lifelong problems that require more than
incarceration to solve, said John Lum, the county's chief probation officer.

Lum said a successful approach first requires that law enforcement simply
make drugs unavailable. Also important are prevention programs to keep
people from starting to use drugs, intervention to help them stop and then
community supervision and after-care to keep them clean following treatment.

"It's with the goal being restoration rather than just punishment," he said.
"Punishment alone is not going to resolve this problem.

"The expectation is that the offender is going to change his behavior."

Such an approach both helps addicts take control of their lives and reduces
the likelihood of them committing crimes, he said.

Lum said the District Attorney's Office, the public defender's office, the
courts, and city and county law enforcement agencies are working together to
share information and collaborate on solutions to the use of illegal drugs
in the county.

One particular target, the abuse of methamphetamine, is a "serious" problem
in the county, Lum said.

Both Gardiner and Hedges said they would consider reassigning one person to
the countywide Narcotic Task Force to combat drug use and manufacture.

Former Sheriff Ed Williams pulled three narcotics detectives off the task
force earlier this year after a Department of Justice investigation into a
non-criminal matter that involved a justice department employee assigned to
the NTF.

Since then, the county narcotics detectives have focused their efforts on
street-level investigations rather than the major drug cases handled by the
NTF.

Showdown at the polls

The election Tuesday is somewhat of a rematch of the June primary in which a
third candidate was eliminated.

At that time, Gardiner garnered about 48 percent of the vote to Hedges' 42
percent.

The election is to succeed popular Ed Williams, who announced three weeks
before the end of the campaign filing period that he would not seek a fourth
term. The next day, Gardiner announced his candidacy, along with a
collection of endorsements.

Hedges filed his candidacy papers in the 11th hour, offering himself as an
alternative and subsequently securing the endorsements of the San Luis
Obispo County Deputy Sheriff's Association and the San Luis Obispo County
Employees Association.

Hedges and Gardiner are directing their efforts toward the same goal --
keeping crime down -- but their approaches indicate some subtle and some
not-so-subtle differences.

Hedges, 46, believes his position as a longtime department employee gives
him the inside track on how to manage the department.

"I've been in the department over 20 years and in the county over 40 years,"
he said. "I feel I have a vested interest in the department."

Hedges joined the department in 1977 and has handled a number of assignments
since then, including jail and patrol supervision. He's also worked as a
detective.

Much of his campaign is focused on restructuring the department's staff. He
would shift duties, reconfigure schedules and reassign some job
classifications.

"We are going to have to work more efficiently with the staffing and budget
that we have now," Hedges said.

Gardiner started his career in 1970 as a patrolman in Newport Beach. He rose
through the ranks there to captain and became San Luis Obispo's chief in
1987.

His campaign emphasizes his involvement in everything from community service
and professional law enforcement organizations to working with school
officials and other groups to develop preventative programs that complement
traditional crime fighting.

"The role of law enforcement has changed significantly over the past 30
years when I came on board," said the 50-year-old Gardiner. "( Then ) you
wrote tickets, you wrote reports and you arrested people."

Over the years, budget cuts have eliminated some safety nets that social
services programs once provided. Now some of the responsibility falls to law
enforcement -- the only service that is there 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, he said.

Checked-by: Don Beck