Pubdate: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ CHANGING THE GUARD After a couple of bruising campaigns,after a six month transition period during which not all the wounds from the campaigns have been soothed and after months of speculation, a new era in law enforcement is beginning in Orange County. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Mike Carona might have to spend a good deal of time and effort during their first few months in office solidifying support within the departments they have taken over. But it shouldn't be too long before the public begins to see changes in policies. Most of the changes the two men have promised to implement should be for the better. But the proposals won't be easy to turn from theory and campaign promises into reality. The most dramatic changes are likely to come in the Sheriff's Department, headed since 1974 by Brad Gates, one of the most skillful and powerful politicians Orage County has seen, who opposed Mr. Carona's election bitterly. Mike Carona, who headed the county marshals before being elected sheriff, has promised to liberalize the county's concealed-weapons permit policy so that anyone who shows a need, passes a background check and takes a safety class can get a concealed weapons permit. Under former Sheriff Gates only 320 Orange Countians were granted such permits, and the suspicion was that a disproportionate number were Gates' friends and supporters. Mr. Carona says he wants to treat addiction as a medical problem rather than a criminal problem and wants to set up a secure rehabilitation center for people arrested for personal possession (though not for sale) of drugs. He also says he wants to implement medical patients with recommendations from a doctor. Mr. Carona is not as committed as Mr. Gates was to expanding the Musick jail in Irvine, but might seek a regional approach to jail overcrowding. As to departmental policies, he wants to rotate deputies out of jail duty and onto the streets more quickly, study the idea of three-day, 12-hour work shifts, cut the budget 5 percent by hiring civilians to handle some administrative chores, and separate the sheriff's department from the coroner's office. It's an ambitious program, especially for somebody who still is viewed as an outsider and perhaps an interloper by some. Tony Rackauckas was a deputy district attorney and a judge before being elected and now seems to have support from across the political spectrum; so, his transition might be less difficult. Mr. Rachachas' quest for office was no doubt assisted by outgoing District Attorney Mike Capizzi's zealous prosecution of office-holders and campaign workers for campaign violations, which alienated many in the Orange County Republican power structure. Mr. Rackauckas says he will leave minor campaign-law violation to the state Fair Political Practices Commission. He plans to give deputy DAs more latitude and autonomy in how they prosecute cases and to end a Capizzi-instituted outright ban on plea-bargaining (which Mr. Rackauckas prefers to call "pretrial negotiations.") He promises to crack down on street gangs and push for speedier trials. We wish both men will and offer a few constructive suggestions: Encourage a focus on the victims of crime and ways of making them whole. There's a constant temtation in law enforcement to focus on apprehension and prosecution, a process that sometimes leaves the crime victim the odd person out, useful to "the system" only as a witness. Meet with Marvin Chavez and members of the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group early on to discuss ways to implement Proposition 215. It is a scandal that local authorities sought to ensnare and prosecute Mr. Chavez rather than trying to work with him and to help him undertake distribution of medical marijuana in a legal and above-board fashion. That mistake should be corrected. Approach political advocacy prudently. We applaud many of the reforms Sheriff Carona wants to implement and note that most of them work of existing law.But law-enforcement officials who are too zealous in recommending changes in the laws run the risk of undermining their reputation as impartial enforcers of the laws as they exist. Those who establish a reputation for impartial enforcement first are in a better position to be credible advocates of necessary reforms than those who are out front too early and too often on political issues. With that caveat, we still suggest that both men undertake or sponsor independent studies of the results of the "three strikes" and drug possession laws. And good luck. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry