John Duffy

Without prompting, John Duffy eagerly pinpoints the exact number of days, hours and minutes until he retires as San Diego County's sheriff, a job he's held for 20 years. He talks fondly of slipping into obscurity at noon Jan. 7, when his replacement steps in and he can permanently move out of the public eye. When that happens, he won't have to worry about grand juries or county supervisors or news reporters. But for now, he is back in the limelight.

These are not the best of times for San Diego County Sheriff Jim Roache. Elected in 1990 as a reformer after 20 years of ironfisted rule by his predecessor, Roache has endured continual controversy over personnel decisions, an embarrassing no-confidence vote by the Deputy Sheriffs Assn., media criticism over his management style, and sniping by an in-house publication called Silver Star.

In harsh, blunt language, a San Diego County grand jury blasted the sheriff's operation of the jail system, confirming that inmates were frequently beaten by deputies, that there have been internal cover-ups and that the department's leadership--including Sheriff John Duffy--has allowed many deputies to experience "delight in cruelty to others." The report comes after a lengthy investigation into allegations by scores of inmates at the six county detention facilities.

John Duffy, a blunt-talking and controversial figure during 20 often stormy years as San Diego County sheriff, has died at age 62 of a heart attack. Duffy, who retired in 1990, was in El Salvador helping to establish that war-torn country's first civilian police force when he was stricken Sunday. During five terms as county sheriff, Duffy feuded with the press, budget-cutting politicians and civil libertarians.

A San Diego County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing The Times from publishing any information about security measures installed at the home of Sheriff John Duffy. The unusual court order, signed by Judge Jeffrey Miller, states that The Times is prohibited from publishing any information regarding the "nature, layout, or configuration of security measures in" Duffy's home, or any information about the address of the house.

Sheriff John Duffy and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department were cleared of criminal wrongdoing in an FBI investigation of 70 cases of alleged civil rights violations stemming from several beatings and deaths suffered by inmates while incarcerated in the county jails. However, U.S. Atty. William Braniff said that his office and FBI investigators are still reviewing two cases to determine if criminal prosecution of deputies or other jail personnel is warranted.

For five years, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department has been operating more like a circus than a truly accredited law enforcement agency. The department has benn plagued with investigations by the county Grand Jury regarding jail brutality, escapes from jail and questionable shootings. During this time, John Duffy appointed Jack Drown and three others as assistant sheriffs. Their responsibilities were to oversee the affairs of the department in law enforcement, detentions and training.

One day after saying he welcomed all the help San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy could give him in next year's sheriff's race, Jack Drown began Tuesday to distance himself somewhat from his boss and said he would consider shedding Duffy's support should it prove harmful. "We'd sit back and think about it and reflect upon it," said Drown, an assistant sheriff who has worked closely with Duffy for 20 years. "But," he added, "I'm not going to sell out my own personal beliefs and trade them off.

The voters of all San Diego County will shortly have the opportunity to express themselves in the most momentous criminal justice system decision in two decades. In selecting the leadership for the Sheriff's Department in the June 5 primary, they may well be setting the tone for law enforcement leadership for the county in the foreseeable future. Much has been made over the leadership style of John Duffy. Whatever one thinks of that style, it cannot be denied that, during the very difficult governmental time of Proposition 13 management, he has led the department to a position of national preeminence in several areas.

Sheriff John Duffy, prohibited since June from spending money seized in drug raids without county approval, failed to deposit more than $300,000 worth of drug funds into the county treasury and instead set up a separate, secret account.

Msgr. Michael John Duffy, founding pastor of St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, died Saturday from injuries suffered in a car crash that occurred as he was traveling to a church meeting. He was 77. Duffy had been pastor at St. Bonaventure for 23 years before his retirement four years ago. Since then, he had served as pastor emeritus and was active in overseeing most of the church's events. In April, the parish celebrated Duffy's 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.

Rooting through some of former Sheriff John Duffy's files two weeks ago, an assistant to Sheriff Jim Roache discovered a surprise buried beneath 4 inches of paperwork. Unbeknown to anyone in Roache's administration, Duffy had guaranteed in writing that the Sheriff's Department would play host to 5,000 members of the National Sheriff's Assn. in June, 1992.

Resolving a thorny issue that produced a legal showdown between the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the Board of Supervisors, a tentative agreement has been reached in a lawsuit stemming from former Sheriff John Duffy's secret $1-million checking account for drug forfeiture money.

Sheriff John Duffy provided more than $60,000 in seized drug proceeds--which he had deposited in a secret checking account--to government agencies, according to a summary of the account released Wednesday under court order. Superior Court Judge Harrison Hollywood, who had ordered Duffy on Tuesday to turn over the more than $1 million left in the account, ordered the sheriff Wednesday to explain during a hearing how he had spent the money.

Sheriff John Duffy, who opened a secret bank account for drug forfeiture money two months ago to bypass restrictions set by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, cannot touch the nearly $700,000 in estimated deposits he has accrued, a Superior Court judge ruled Friday. Judge Harrison Hollywood also ruled that the county cannot place the money in its treasury--as it had hoped--before a Nov. 27 court hearing to determine who legally controls the funds.

Without prompting, John Duffy eagerly pinpoints the exact number of days, hours and minutes until he retires as San Diego County's sheriff, a job he's held for 20 years. He talks fondly of slipping into obscurity at noon Jan. 7, when his replacement steps in and he can permanently move out of the public eye. When that happens, he won't have to worry about grand juries or county supervisors or news reporters. But for now, he is back in the limelight.

Jim Roache, a captain in the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and a member of the San Diego Unified School Board, opened his campaign for sheriff Tuesday, saying he wants to restore "openness and community consensus" to an office held 20 years by John Duffy. "The sheriff is arrogant and unapproachable, and those same traits have been picked up and passed on to other people in the organization," he said of his boss, Duffy.

The sheriff's captain who supervised the El Cajon jail where the so-called "Rambo Squad" allegedly abused inmates had her suspension revoked Wednesday by the county's Civil Service Commission. But Sheriff John Duffy called the commission's ruling improper.

For five years, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department has been operating more like a circus than a truly accredited law enforcement agency. The department has benn plagued with investigations by the county Grand Jury regarding jail brutality, escapes from jail and questionable shootings. During this time, John Duffy appointed Jack Drown and three others as assistant sheriffs. Their responsibilities were to oversee the affairs of the department in law enforcement, detentions and training.

Sheriff John Duffy, prohibited since June from spending money seized in drug raids without county approval, failed to deposit more than $300,000 worth of drug funds into the county treasury and instead set up a separate, secret account.