Friday, November 03, 2006

October 27 OTR: Police or Sheriff

On October 27, On The Record included an interview
with Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle. Greta introduced
the elected official as a member of the Riverside
Police Department. Uh oh. Since when did the
elected sheriff go to work for the police chief?
Let's help Greta understand police politics. The
police work for the city. The sheriff works for
the county. The police have a chief appointed by
the city's mayor while the sheriff is elected by the
county's citizens. The police fight crime within the
city while the sheriff fights crime outside all of the
city limits within the county. In Riverside, that would
include the city of Palm Springs as well as the city of
Riverside. The sheriff has a lot more responsibility
than the police. He also mans the county jail and guards
the courts with his bailiffs. To call the sheriff a policeman
is like calling the our president a senator. It is very
insulting. Let's hope this mistake does not become a habit.

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