By Khalida Sarwari
Two candidates are relying on their experience in law enforcement as they vie to unseat incumbent Laurie Smith in the race for Santa Clara County sheriff.
In her 12-year tenure as sheriff, Smith, 58, said she takes pride in being a leader and fiscally responsible manager.
“I think that we have really accomplished a lot,” Smith said. “There’s a lot more we can do. It’s a difficult time right now with the economy and I think we need someone who is a proven leader.”
She said that if re-elected, she would ensure that communities remain safe, provide high-quality service in a fiscally responsible manner and keep kids out of gangs, off drugs and in school.
The other two candidates in the race, Richard Calderon, 56, and Martin Monica, 55, both say they have the law enforcement experience and community engagement skills to replace Smith, whose office came under fire recently for an allegedly delayed response to a 2007 incident involving the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at De Anza College in Cupertino.
Calderon said that as sheriff, he would take a different approach in a similar circumstance.
“I will not make a mistake of that sort,” he said. “If the department makes a mistake I will come forward and be honest about how we need to improve ourselves.”
While acknowledging that the sheriff’s office could have dedicated more resources to the investigation, Smith said the initial response by the sheriff’s office was not slow and that the investigation was thorough and complete.
“Now that we’ve reviewed it in hindsight, we see that there’s things we could have handled better,” Smith said. “But in the final analysis, we did a great job.”
Calderon is a retired San Jose police captain and most recently served as chief of police with the Gustine Police Department in the Central Valley.
He said he helped assemble a five-year strategic plan for the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force in San Jose and if elected, public safety and gang prevention would be two of his top priorities.
“I will work with the schools to reduce youth violence and gang activity and promote countywide gang prevention task force in locations where it’s needed,” Calderon said.
He said he would engage and work actively with community groups, police chiefs and the sheriff’s association.
Monica, a substitute teacher and community policing consultant, said he also would make engaging the community a focus. He said he is working to better understand different cultures by visiting and speaking with the Sikh and Muslim communities in Santa Clara County.
“I want to really bring the idea and philosophy of community policing to the sheriff’s department,” Monica said. “One of the key components is problem-solving. You can reduce and prevent crime by increasing relations with the community.”