SHERIFF GORE WON’T SEEK REELECTION

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Ron Logan

July 30, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore will not seek reelection in 2022, he informed his 3,600 employees yesterday.

Gore, 73, has served three terms of office, which will end in January 2023.

In a statement to media, Gore said, "It is an honor and a privilege to serve the people of San Diego County. I am grateful and humbled by the continued community support that I have received for the last 12 years.”

 He adds, “Being your Sheriff is one of the most rewarding experiences of my law enforcement career. Rewarding primarily because of the extraordinary men and women in the department who work tirelessly every day to keep San Diego the safest urban county in the nation."

His department serves the county’s unincorporated areas and contracts with nine local cities, including Lemon Grove and Santee here in East County.

His decision not to seek reelection leaves an open seat for Sheriff in San Diego County, which has more than 3 million residents and is the fifth largest county in the U.S. based on population.

Gore has a 47-year career in law enforcement, including serving as Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), where he helped pioneer the first cyber crimes squad and joint terrorism task force. A Navy veteran raised in San Diego, he comes from a law enforcement family and is married to one of the FBI’s first women agents.

In a 2018 interview with East County Magazine, Gore said the county’s crime rate was the lowest in 30 or 40 years. He credited the drop with use of technology and taking a proactive approach, as well as forming collaborative partnerships with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and forming task forces to help nab criminals early. He also worked with the U.S. Attorney in San Diego to form the first regional forensics laboratory in the U.S.

But the Sheriff has drawn criticism for San Diego County’s jails and detention centers having the highest rate of inmate deaths of any large county in California, a matter that the state Legislature is considering having an independent auditor investigate. Use of force controversies, racial tensions and lawsuits over concealed carry permits have also been issues during his tenure.

Sheriff Gore’s decision not to seek reelection opens the San Diego County Sheriff’s seat for the first time in dozen years.

At least one candidate is already taking aim on the seat.

Former Sheriff’s Commander Dave Myers is planning to announce his candidacy on August 26 at the Hall of Justice at 10:30 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Myers. Myers previously challenged Gore unsuccessfully for the seat.

In a 2017 interview with East County Magazine, Myers pledged a transparent “top to bottom” review of the department with goals that include restoring community trust, improving diversity, addressing hate crimes, improving response times in rural areas, and restoring the Sheriff’s Facebook page, which was taken down during Gore’s tenure.

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

Comments

Let's not forget this part of Sheriff Bill Gore's legacy

HEAR OUR INTERVIEW: SHERIFF BILL GORE MAKES CASE FOR REELECTION | East County Magazine:

We also asked Gore, the former Assistant Director of the FBI, his take on what listeners should know about President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director Comey James Comey and Assistant Director Andrew McCabe, as well as the President’s calls to shut down the investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Gore notes that all law enforcement agencies depend on the trust of the public to be successful. He is troubled by efforts to undermine credibility of the FBI, which is “widely recognized as the finest law enforcement agencies in the world,” though not perfect, he notes.  “To try to attack the department of Justice and FBI will not be beneficial long term,” says Gore.

He finds “most disturbing” the House Intelligence Committee’s Democrats and Republicans issuing conflicting and separate reports that including criticism of the FBI on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court orders. The House Intelligence committee is critical to provide nonpartisan oversight of FISA, which of necessity is a secret court (overseeing wiretapping in counterintelligence and terrorism cases),” says Gore.  “I testified before that committee back in the early ‘80s three or four times a year, and there was never a hint of politics in that. The country is the loser if committees become politicized and we can’t count on them to provide legitimate oversight of the FBI…That my big concern—we are going to destroy some institutions that need the public’s trust.”

As for the special prosecutor, Gore revealed, “I know Bob Mueller personally. I’ve worked with him. He is a man of impeccable integrity,” he says, noting that Mueller (photo, left) is a Republican appointee and the Deputy Attorney General is a Republican.  “Let them do their job, and we’ll see what the facts are when they’re done,” he concludes.

about time

glad to see gore GONE!..... lets all support Sheriff’s Commander Dave Myers!

Fantastic

Glad to see the butcher of Ruby Ridge out of here. Maybe the new "person" will get the deputies off their lazy buts and start doing their jobs.