Sandra Hutchens makes her case to be the next O.C. sheriff
The man lurking in the shadows of a dark alley on New Year's Eve stopped Sandra Hutchens in her tracks.
Hutchens was responding to reports of gunfire in a tough Lynwood neighborhood and spotted him in an open doorway as she and her partner hunted for potential suspects near a converted garage.
A rookie deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department when the confrontation took place nearly 30 years ago, Hutchens said she would never forget the deadly gun battle that ensued.
"He raised his gun. I fired three rounds," she recalled in an interview last week. "It stays with you. When you take somebody's life, I don't care who they are, you live with it forever. It's difficult."
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office found no criminal wrongdoing by Hutchens. Although a jury later awarded the man's family about $1 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit, Hutchens maintains in hindsight that she had no choice but to use deadly force that night.
A tough lesson learned, Hutchens said she used the incident as an example in teaching others throughout a career that took her from the streets of L.A. County, to inside the nation's largest jail system, and ultimately to division commander overseeing homeland security. Now she is one of two finalists to become Orange County's next sheriff.
Those who have worked closest with Hutchens say she has everything it takes to be sheriff, describing her as bright and a polished administrator who is trusted and respected by her troops and has the political savvy and street credibility for the job.
"She's very effective in getting people to do the right thing. She does that by example," said Los Angeles County Undersheriff Larry Waldie. "I think the world of her. I hated to lose her. I think she would be a great sheriff."
Dennis Dalhman, a retired Los Angeles County assistant sheriff who was a sergeant overseeing Hutchens at the Lynwood station, agreed. He said the way she coped with the shooting and the fallout spoke volumes about her character, surviving an event that has ended many law enforcement careers. "The people of Orange County couldn't do any better," he said.
But she faces at least one significant opponent in Supervisor Chris Norby. He pushed hard last week for the immediate appointment of Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, arguing he was clearly the more qualified finalist.
