Sonoma County Sheriff Freitas to retire
Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas said Friday he will not run for re-election next year, revealing he plans to retire at the end of his second term in charge of the largest local law enforcement agency, where he was a politically tested leader who confronted both deep recession-era budget cuts and sharp public criticism in the aftermath of the 2013 Andy Lopez shooting.
Freitas, 54, a 26-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, was unopposed both in 2010 when he stepped up as Windsor's police chief to win his first term as sheriff and in 2014 when he was re-elected. His second term runs through December 2018. His retirement plans will set off succession talks among top brass at the department, which has not seen a contested election for sheriff since 1990.
“We knew the job was going to be hard and take a lot of time, and my family was supportive of that,” said Freitas, who with his wife, Michelle, has two sons. “They also knew I promised them I would serve two terms, then we would get the chance to spend more time together as the kids get into high school.”
Freitas' tenure was marked by major budget cuts stemming from the historic 2008 recession and then by the death of Lopez, a Santa Rosa middle schooler shot by a veteran deputy who mistook the boy's airsoft gun for a real assault rifle. The deputy, Erick Gelhaus, was later cleared of any criminal wrongdoing and was promoted to sergeant.
Public fallout from the incident and its handling - including an ongoing federal lawsuit brought by Lopez's family against Freitas, Gelhaus and the county - continue to shadow the agency. Freitas drew wide criticism for failing to engage with the Latino community, especially in the aftermath of the shooting. Critics said his leadership was so low profile that he appeared inaccessible.
“The sheriff has had many opportunities to change policies that would have positively affected the Latino community but has failed to do so unless he was forced to by orders of the court or law,” said Santa Rosa attorney Alicia Roman, former chairwoman of the community advisory council working with the head of the county's newly established civilian oversight office. As of this month, Roman is no longer a member of the group.
But his supporters say he has been a consistent advocate for his department, agreeing to work alongside the civilian oversight office, a level of scrutiny none of his predecessors faced.
He has earned praise from elected leaders and other county department heads as a skilled manager for how he shepherded the department through belt-tightening years that at one time threatened the popular and renowned helicopter team and led to the temporary loss of programs, including the community policing unit.
His leadership was tested mightily after Lopez was killed, a crisis many inside and outside of the department said called for a stronger public persona to address community outcry. His department also experienced an unprecedented exodus of deputies who left for jobs elsewhere to seek better pay and benefits and, for some, to escape the turmoil sparked by Lopez' death.
Former county supervisor Eric Koenigshofer, a Sheriff's Office supporter and veteran political observer, called the shooting and resulting crisis Freitas' “greatest vulnerability.”
In an interview Friday, Freitas said the shooting was tragic for the Lopez family, his department and the community, a difficult time compounded by how quickly people jumped to conclusions about aspects of the case.
“People made their mind up quickly one way or the other before the investigation was over,” said Freitas, who has steadfastly defended his department's internal investigation and the Sonoma County District Attorney's investigation.
Freitas, who made about $198,000 in salary in 2015 - the county has yet to provide 2016 payroll records - declined to describe any succession plan underway for his office, adding that internal conversations have not yet begun to identify who is interested in running for the seat.
For now, Freitas, who is often called “a numbers guy,” has his mind on his 600-member's department's roughly $160 million budget, up for authorization in June by the Board of Supervisors. His next major goal will be to replace the aging Bell 407 helicopter, built in 1996, dubbed Henry 1, which will cost millions of dollars.
Koenigshofer, an Occidental attorney who served on the community task force that proposed the civilian oversight program after the Lopez shooting, called Freitas a “very capable sheriff and manager.”
In developing the oversight proposal, Koenigshofer said he heard from agencies across the country about the vocal opposition from law enforcement leaders who didn't want civilian involvement in their departments. In contrast, Freitas from the outset pledged to work with a civilian review program and its task of auditing internal investigations.
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