Candidate Under Fire: Calderon and the Gustine Police Department

We've promise in the past to address this major issue to the campaign for the Sheriff's Office and it's an important one. When a candidate has the word "fired" in their career background it's a concern to any who may consider voting for them - sometimes enough of a concern to get people to avoid them completely when it comes to going to the polls.

But Politics being politics and dirt being dirt, we like to look for ourselves. Sheriff Smith has made a repeated, well sharpened effort to point out that her biggest competitor for her job, Richard Calderon, was "fired". She's said it at several events, including DSA and other LEO Q&A evenings. She's made a pointed effort within her office to push the idea that he was "fired".

So I hope now that you've gotten this far, you're asking - was he? That's what we've been asking. Ever since the local paper,The Mercury News, made in their candidate biographies that Richard Calderon was released from his position as Police Chief of a small town with 9 law enforcement officers, I've been curious myself.

When Richard Calderon put his bid in to get on the ballot for Santa Clara County Sheriff, he had to have known what was coming down the road. He had recently left a very contentious environment after only eight months as the Gustine Chief of Police. Accusations were thrown, but when it came down to it, Gustine officials stated that it was an "employment issue," detailing there was no disciplinary issue, they bought out his contract at ~$29K for the remaining four months.

Calderon has since that time, in the Merced Sun Star, claimed he was forced out by city leaders, citing ethical issues within the city leadership and claiming the 9 officer department of Gustine supported him. Gustine officials in kind accused Calderon of being heavy handed, going so far as to having officers sit near bars as they emptied out in the early hours of the morning and making DUI arrests but in turn didn't address issues the city had regarding gang activity. Our research to date shows little to no gang activity in the town of Gustine, CA, population of about 5,100 people, and even boasts on the front page of their city website a low crime rate.

There also appears to be a question of stimulus money and the legality of how it was to be used. The City Manager and Calderon both will only make limited statements as to the facts of the situation. The professional relationship of the two parties suffered irreconcilable differences under this issue.

Being let go from a leadership position is a major point that needs to be cleared up if Calderon wants to get the vote in Santa Clara county. Voters need to know was he heavy handed, was his position regarding COPS funding unreasonable and did he ultimately do something to be released for other than have a disagreement over funding?

We visited the accusations of letting serious crime go in favor of being heavy handed on minor infractions. Keep in mind, the Chief previous to Richard Calderon was forced out due to being arrested for a DUI. This appears relevant to the accusations against Mr. Calderon. The city seems divided to a degree by all reports, but the division is disturbing. Those who believed they had a right to drink until 2AM and head out to their car felt they were being targeted unfairly for a minor infraction. It's surprising in this day and age there are people who think getting behind the wheel of a 1-2 ton vehicle while alcohol impaired is a minor thing. Many other town citizens, including the officers we spoke to, were relieved that the police department was finally doing their job. But few were surprised when a friend of a city official was arrested driving drunk that it began to turn bad for Calderon, who was standing behind his officers actions in DUI arrests.

When Mr. Calderon attended the Santa Clara Deputy Sheriff's Association for their Candidate Q&A Night he brought 4 Gustine officers with him to address the accusations of being a poor Chief, poor policing and inability to work with other city officials. This is 45% of the department. It leaves one pondering if the entire department would have shown up if the rest weren't likely on duty. These officers reinforced the statements made by Calderon, stating that he was fair and supportive of their work. They stated he brought ethical policing back into the department after the previous Chief and other city officials would try to get certain people political/legal special treatment. One officer did state that there was a concern there would be repercussions for supporting Calderon, that much had returned to the way it had been under their new chief but he felt strongly enough about Calderon as a Chief and an officer that he was throwing his support behind him.

Gustine Mayor Rich Ford made the open accusation in the Merced Sun-Star that Calderon shirked harder duties such as gang prevention for easy traffic infractions. We've been able to find no evidence of this. Our research to date shows little to no gang activity in the town of Gustine, CA, population of about 5,100 people, and even boasts on the front page of their city website a low crime rate. On the City Police website, Scooters, Skateboards and Bikes seems to be a more serious issue, earning its own web page, though under construction, whereas gang activity doesn't have a mention anywhere in the law enforcement web pages. When asked about the job that Calderon did, officers stated unequivocally that Chief Calderon did his job and supported them in doing theirs, never was there a mention that he turned is back on a serious crime, particularly one as serious as gang activity.

The issue of COPS stimulus funds seems to be a matter of disagreement that ultimately ended in a power struggle where the new chief lost. Without access to specific paperwork, we don't know what the outcome, correct or otherwise, was officially. We do know that it was a disagreement of how COPS money was allowed to be spent and what had to happen to allow the city to spend it in a manner other than it was applied for. Calderon states publicly the money was earmarked for an expansion, and Gustine City Manager Margaret Silveira says that it was allowed to be used to prevent layoffs. Calderon indicates that there was no threat of layoff and Silveira indicates that Calderon just wanted a larger department. We can only assume that it was a difference of opinion that remained unsolvable and that Calderon did nothing out of line in his actions to make sure the law was followed since there were no disciplinary or legal actions taken against him.

Then there's the Grand Jury battle between Sheriff Pazin, Merced County and Gustine. A battle that Calderon entered midway and testified to what it appears he saw while he was there. The Sheriff accuses Calderon of either ignorance or lies, but since lying to a Grand Jury is a crime, and there is no evidence he told anything beyond what he saw in a situation already degraded by the time he entered the stage. We believe he reported what he believed to be the truth. What is interesting is that it was later reported in the Merced Sun Star that Grand Jury Foreman Harlan Dake admitted they never interviewed Sheriff's Office personnel, but only took the word of a Chief of Police who wasn't present in the department long enough to have experienced the beginning of the rift.

Some say where there is smoke there is fire. Sometimes this is true, but sometimes all you find is a pile of wet leaves with a bunch of politicians blowing as hard as they can to create a lot of smoke for their friends to get back the DUI checkpoint. Small town politics, love 'em or hate 'em, they rarely change. Richard Calderon learned that lesson. Did he make mistakes? It would seem he did, but did he commit egregious acts that voters should be concerned about? We can't find any verification that he did anything so serious as to preclude consideration from becoming Sheriff of Santa Clara County.

You have to give the man credit and the time to listen to him for one reason and one reason alone, he can give no political or career favors to the officers who showed up to support him. The officers showed up of their own free will, on their own surely precious time, to tell people that what was said was not true. They gain nothing, they win nothing other than to stand beside a man they clearly respected as their Chief and refute unfair attacks.

We know that at least one candidate has started virtually every speech she's made to date with the accusations of "dirty politics." While we won't deny there are dirty politics at play in this race, to continue to claim that Richard Calderon was fired for wrong-doing as Chief of Police of the Town of Gustine is unsupported, unjustified and downright dirty politics.

Let's keep it clean boys and girls.