March 15, 2010 (San Diego) -- Sheriff Bill Gore wants to send a reminder about St. Patrick’s Day and safe driving. For many Americans, St. Patrick’s Day has become a popular night out to celebrate with friends and family. Unfortunately, due to the large number of drunk drivers, the night out has also become very dangerous. On St. Patrick’s Day 2008, thre were 134 fatal crashes—and 37 percent of the drivers and motorcyclists involved had a blood alcohol content of .08 or above, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

 


PUBLIC MEMORIAL SET FOR CHELSEA KING MARCH 13
 
March 5, 2010 (San Diego) – John Albert Gardner III has pleaded not guilty to the murder and rape of Chelsea King. View a video of his arraignment: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/04/chelsea-king-body-confirm...
 
A preliminary hearing is set for March 18. Sheriff Bill Gore has ordered the County Medical Examiner’s report including sealed until the hearing, including identification of a body found at Lake Hodges and believed to be King’s.

 
 
March 2, 2010 (Rancho Bernardo) – The search for Chelsea King continues, despite the arrest of John Gardner, a registered sex offender booked on suspicion of rape and murder. Sheriff Bill Gore has said he holds out hope that Chelsea may yet be found alive – and volunteers are needed for daily searches starting at 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the day.
 
To help in the search, come to the Chelsea King Search Center at 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court and register to volunteer.

Questions raised over early handling of case; no major search mounted for weeks after Jeep SUV found disabled 22 miles off-road in remote desert locale

“Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest of the year. Tens of thousands of people were in the desert…It’s likely someone would have come across him. If it was at night and he was on foot, someone could have given him a ride.” -- Detective Patrick Yates

By Miriam Raftery

February 25, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) - Grounded for stealing his stepfather's motorcycle and going joyriding November 20th in a Riverside County park, 16-year-old Mickey Guidry (also called Mike or Mikey) took his parents’ blue Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV on Thanksgiving to join friends who were camping at 5454 Split Mountain Road in Ocotillo Wells. He left camp at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 27th—and hasn’t been seen since. Now ECM has learned that this wasn't the first time the teen has gone missing. Sheriff officials are treating the case as a runaway.

But the boy's mother, Missy Perucca, believes her son made it out of the desert alive and may now be living elsewhere--and hopes he didn't meet with foul play.  "I just hope someone somewhere knows something and reports it to the police so we can finally have a direction to go in," she said. 

San Diego Sheriff Announces New E-Tool

 

January 13, 2010 (San Diego) -- Sheriff Bill Gore today announces the initiation of a new Internet tool for the residents of San Diego County. Crimemapping.com, a creation of San Diego-based Omega Group, retrieves crime data, maps it by address, and positions it in crime categories for web users to view. Sensitive crimes, such as domestic violence and sex crimes will not be posted.

Sheriff William D. Gore is announcing a new program designed to keep teen drivers safer when on the roadways.

“Lose your license, lose your car, lose your life,” is the message behind re-enforced patrols, curfew checks, teens driving with unauthorized persons in their cars, texting, cell-phone usage, and all other unsafe driving practices.

December 27, 2009 (Spring Valley) – The San Diego County Sheriff’s office has opened up a new storefront at 9736 Campo Road in the Casa de Oro neighborhood in Spring Valley. The purpose of the storefront is to “enhance the partnership between the community and the Sheriff’s Department,” according to a release issued by  Sheriff Bill Gore (photo, left).

November 25, 2009 (San Diego County)--Sheriff William D. Gore announced today a county-wide Holiday Watch Program beginning Wednesday, November 25, 2009 and continuing through Sunday, January 3, 2010. The purpose of Holiday Watch is to provide a safe, secure, crime free environment during the holiday period. The Sheriff’s Holiday Watch program will consist of both education and enforcement. A schedule and locations of enforcement actions for seatbelt laws, drunk driving stops and more is included below.

 
By Miriam Raftery

September 16, 2009 (San Diego) – San Diego County Sheriff’s Department notified media today that it would hold a demonstration of its highly controversial “sonic weapon.” What was demonstrated, however, was only the loudspeaker capability of the device—a feature which has effectively been used in search-and-rescue operations and to broadcast messages during a sandcastle contest. The sonic weapons switch, capable of emitting tones loud enough to damage ear drums or worse, has now been “disabled,” Sheriff’s Lieutenant Ed Musgrove informed the media at the end of the event. (View our video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulkl5Lw5gm8) But concerns remain.
 
“If you accidentally flip that switch and someone is within a 30-foot range, they can have their eardrums burst, bleeding in the inner ear, and it can result in an aneurysm or death,” reporter Kim Dvorac from Examiner.com said in an interview on KCBQ radio’s Rick Amato show last night , citing a source in the Department of Defense http://www.amatotalk.com/podcasts/AMATO-09-15-09-HR1.mp3 .

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Leon Thompson

In an exclusive interview, San Diego's new top law enforcement offer shares his goals with East County Magazine--including priorities and new initiatives for East County. 

Appointed to replace retiring Sheriff William Kolender, Bill Gore brings 42 years of law enforcement expertise to the job. As Assistant Director of the FBI in Washington D.C., he earned a Meritorious Executive Service Award from the President. He’s led efforts to bring down organized crime rings including the Triads and Yakuza, helped break up the infamous Arellano-Felix Drug Cartel, and intervened to halt airplane hijackings as a S.W.A.T. team member. (Read his harrowing account here.) In San Diego, he established the Joint Terrorism Task Force and developed the nation’s first regional computer forensic lab—which has since been replicated nationwide. After leaving the FBI, he served as Chief Investigator/Special Assistant to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. As Undersheriff, second in command under Sheriff Kolender, he revised use-of-force policies, implemented a mobile ID system and improved public transparency.

Now as Sheriff, he’s set his sights on his most ambitious goal yet: to make San Diego the safest urban county in America.