Sheriff Bianco is wrong about crime – in fact, California Department of Justice figures show crime rates are much lower today than before major criminal justice reforms began in the early 2010s. He’s even more wrong about what’s behind public and legislative concerns about crime, including an initiative proposal falsely blaming Prop. 47’s reforms for retail crimes like shoplifting.

Prop. 47 and other reforms are not the problem. The problem is the wholesale tanking of law enforcement efficiency in solving crimes and making arrests (a trend that began long before reforms took effect), led by Sheriff Bianco’s extraordinarily inefficient sheriff’s department. Sheriff Bianco and other outspoken critics are scapegoating Prop. 47 for their own costly incompetence.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is leaving most serious crimes unsolved despite its ballooning budget, which topped half a billion dollars in 2022. During that time, the department’s staff grew by 2,000 personnel, costing county residents twice as much per person compared to 1990 (in constant, inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars). 

Yet in 2022, the Riverside County sheriff cleared (solved) just 8.3% of the felony violent and property crimes reported to it. This is less than half its 1990 solve rate (17.7%) and well below most other California sheriffs’ rates today (15.9%). 

The Riverside County Sheriff’s department’s dismal history:

• In 1990, the Riverside County sheriff, with 1,815 employees (including 1,771 sworn non-jail deputies), received $130 million in funding, or $111 for each county resident; investigated 25,334 reported Part I violent and property offenses; and solved 4,183, or 17.7%, of reported crimes.
• In 2010, the year before the criminal justice reforms Sheriff Bianco lambastes, the Riverside County sheriff, with 3,805 employees (1,686 sworn non-jail), received $477 million in funding, or $217 per county resident; investigated 11,328 Part I offenses; and solved just 997, or 8.8%.
• In 2022, the Riverside County sheriff, with 3,953 employees (including 1,580 sworn non-jail deputies), received $554 million in funding, or $228 per county resident; investigated 8,449 reported Part I offenses (just one-third as many as in 1990); and cleared only 698 offenses (a staggering 83% fewer than in 1990). 

These patterns of rising law enforcement budgets and falling crime-solving are occurring throughout California. We recently reported on these statewide trends, finding that law enforcement jurisdictions are spending an average of 52% more, but solving crime at a rate that’s 41% below 1990 levels. That’s all despite significant drops in the number of crimes that need to be solved. 

Even by today’s low bar for law enforcement crime-solving, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department stands out as among the worst law enforcement agencies in California.

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D.S. | Contributed

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s request to increase overtime extra duty rates charged for services at events that require the use of deputies and other personnel.

In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board authorized Bianco to implement the revised overtime pay schedule, with increases phased in over the next three fiscal years.

The changes reflect the costs borne by the sheriff’s department when deputies, investigators, crime scene technicians — even helicopter mechanics — perform work outside of their normal schedules, such as for parades, festivals and other “special events,” officials said.

The new rates apply to school districts, courts and the cities that contract for law enforcement services.

Under the revised OT pay schedule, the cost for a deputy who works extra hours outside of his or her customary assignments will be $97.77 per hour in fiscal year 2022-23, compared to $94.01 currently.

The charge for a sheriff’s corporal will go from $100.10 to $104.11 per hour, while a sergeant’s rate will rise from $128.55 to $133.69, according to agency documents.

A lieutenant’s extra duty pay will bump up to $106.35, compared to $102.26 per hour currently.

Additional hikes are authorized for fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. The net result will be a deputy sheriff’s hourly extra duty comp going from $94.01 now to $101.68 by July 2024.

A total of 155 positions — sworn and non-sworn — were listed in sheriff’s documents. Increases were sought for all titles and classifications in the next fiscal year. However, after 2022-23, some pay rates will freeze for some positions under the revised schedule submitted to the board.

The new extra duty rates will take effect on July 1.

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Bianco is seen by gun owners as a shift from the previous Sheriff’s administration, which did little to aid gun owners who wished to carry firearms legally. “As a gun owner myself, I’ve spoken with many gun owners who believed that the relationship between the previous Sheriff Stan Sniff and the NRA didn’t truly seem to be fostering a supportive stance toward their rights. Honest, law-abiding citizens had to wait, in some cases, two years or longer to get their licenses. That’s not justice delayed, it’s justice denied,” said Bianco.

Ken “Professor Ken” Haslam, CEO and owner of 360 X Self Defense, is a strong believer in the need for all types of self-defense. “We are a personal self-defense school that looks at all areas of personal defense against violent crimes,” said Haslam, adding, “We believe that the utilization of a weapon-any weapon-when your life is threatened, is not only a right…but a duty. The speech which was given by Sheriff Bianco this Saturday, and the new procedures, fit right into our philosophy.”

Dezarae Payne, Executive Director of RCGO, couldn’t agree more. “Sheriff Bianco has always been a strong defender of the Second Amendment, and his leadership was needed in the area of CCW procedures.” Payne says that the old system of requesting a “concealed carry” permit was so laborious with so many hoops to jump through…that honest gun-owners just gave up. “People were waiting two years sometimes, and the system seemed purposely unfair.”

Payne went on to explain that, “Under the 14th amendment, each state has the right to regulate its gun ownership process. In California where honest gun-owners have been delayed their rights to bear arms, the process delayed their right to the point of essentially denying those rights. Sheriff Bianco’s new system has streamlined the process considerably. Now we understand that some people are issuing their CCW Permit in a matter of weeks instead of years.”

But Sheriff Bianco says that he hasn’t come up with anything new. “People are praising me for the new process, but truth be told …there’s really nothing new. We have excellent field investigators. Those investigators are the men and women tasked with investigating those who would like to carry a weapon.

I simply and literally told them to do their jobs. Under the previous administration, that process was being hindered.” In reference to the CCW Permit procedure of the past-its vetting times and rejection rates, Bianco says there was no accountability and honest accounting, and no way for the average gun owner to know where he or she stood in the procedure. “I’m a lifetime and Benefactor member of the NRA, but the groups responsible for supporting and furthering responsible gun ownership, that is, the previous administration, the NRA California branch headed by H. Paul Payne, and also the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) didn’t seem to be addressing the most important issues. I am correcting that. The previous administration never gave direct answers for rejection rates and procedures.

Very simply put, the previous administration, for all it said in the press, was not very supportive of the Second Amendment. I am.” Under the previous Sheriff’s administration, gun-owners still had to fill out time-consuming, cumbersome, wasteful paper applications. “All we were doing was killing trees, and wasting time: needlessly and purposefully wasting time. It’s 2019. Now people can apply online. It’s also imperative to note that they must show what is called “Good Cause.”

The Riverside Sheriff’s website explains, “A California Sheriff has broad discretion as provided in Penal Code Section §26150(a) to issue a CCW to those qualified citizens residing in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction who demonstrate both “good cause” and “good moral character.” These persons are entrusted to carry loaded, concealed firearms into our public places throughout California. Examples of such public places include our roadways, movie theaters, shopping centers and malls, grocery stores, and the like throughout California.”

360 X Self-Defense was packed to overflowing with gun-owners who cheered many of the positive changes that have come from Sheriff Bianco’s office. “We think the event was an overwhelming success.

We know that the Riverside County Gun Owners and all who attended were extremely happy to see the Sheriff and very pleased with what they heard,” said 30 X Self-Defense owner and CEO Ken Haslam. 360 X Self-Defense is located at 537 E. Florida Avenue or online at 360xselfdefense.com.

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