OBITUARY: RETIRED LAW OFFICER OWENS SPOKE OUT AGAINST DRUG WAR

Robert Owens, 74, a former police chief, professor at the University
of Texas at San Antonio, and proponent of legalizing drugs and
subjecting them to regulation, died in his sleep Sunday.

A law enforcement career of nearly 40 years in Southern California
convinced the Korean War veteran that continuing America's war on
drugs was futile and a losing effort.

"Just as the Prohibition era of 1920 to 1933 corrupted local
officials and law enforcement officers, so too does the current
prohibition," Owens wrote in an op-ed piece for the San Antonio
Express-News last year.

"Add to this the enormous profits going into the coffers of the
ruthless narcotic traffickers beyond our borders, and we have a
nation seemingly giving aid to the enemy while clogging prisons with
its own countrymen and women," wrote Owens, a member of Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition.

LEAP members include current and former police officers, judges,
prosecutors and others in the United States, Mexico, Canada,
Australia and the United Kingdom.

Owens began his 38-year law enforcement career with the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department.

He spent 13 years there before becoming police chief of the city of
San Fernando.

Three years later, he was named chief of police of Oxnard, home to
two Navy bases and a large, diversified population.

The longest-serving police chief in Oxnard's history -- 22 years --
Owens retired in 1992 and accepted a position teaching criminal
justice at UTSA.

He was one of 10 people honored by Attorney General Edwin Meese III
in 1987 for outstanding contributions in assisting victims of crime.

Owens was named the outstanding law enforcement officer in 1984 by
the California Trial Lawyers Association. The next year, the governor
of California honored him for outstanding achievement in crime prevention.

Born in Connecticut and raised in Long Island, N.Y., Owens earned a
master's in business administration from Pepperdine University and a
bachelor's degree from California State University.

He is survived by his wife, Linda; and children Steve Owens of
Ventura, Calif., Olga Leatherbury of Buellton, Calif., Devon Sexauer
of Oakhurst, Calif., and Kimberly Gray of San Antonio.

Cremation is planned.

A private burial will be held at a later date at Fort Sam Houston
National Cemetery.

A service is set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary
North at 2102 N. Loop 1604 East.

A May 31 ceremony is planned for St. John's Lutheran Church in Oxnard