Sheriff, DA say dormant committee not answer to Merced County crime

Since the last time Merced County’s public safety committee met in 2012, the slaying rate has hit a record high and topped the state rankings, prompting top law enforcement officials to declare a “public safety emergency.”

The public safety committee was created in 2003 to address issues raised by the community. Members include representatives from the county Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Fire Department, the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Department and the Office of Emergency Services. The committee is an informal body that meets at the request of department heads, county officials said.

The last time the committee met was Nov. 21, 2012, according to Mike North, the county’s spokesman. Since then, there have been nearly 100 homicides in Merced County.

District Attorney Larry Morse II and Sheriff Vern Warnke criticized the Board of Supervisors during a meeting Tuesday, saying the board has done nothing to stem growing gang violence. Hub Walsh, the board chairman, asked the county’s staff to compile information on what the board has approved to help public safety in recent years. He also recommended the topic be discussed with the public safety committee.

Morse and Warnke said they had never heard of the committee.

“When Larry and I decided to go before the board, we were told by (Merced County CEO) Jim Brown that they wanted us to present to the public safety committee first,” Warnke said in a telephone interview with the Sun-Star. “We were like, ‘What public safety committee?’ ”

“Neither the sheriff nor I were aware such a committee existed until a few months ago,” Morse added. “I’ve certainly never been invited by the supervisors to participate or meet regarding public safety issues in Merced County.”

Deidre Kelsey, District 4 supervisor, and John Pedrozo, District 1 supervisor, represent the board on the committee. In the past, the committee has discussed grant funding and other funding opportunities, concepts in the law enforcement world and potential agenda items to go before the board, Kelsey said. The committee has taken a less-prominent role since former Sheriff Mark Pazin left office in 2013, she said.

Morse and Warnke say they each have talked to supervisors individually about the crime problem in Merced, but that’s not enough.

“Talking to me in my office is not taking care of the problem,” Warnke said.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Walsh referenced several board decisions aimed at helping the Sheriff’s and District Attorney’s offices.

Since the 2013-14 fiscal year, the county has added 27 positions to the two departments, reopened the Delhi and Los Banos sheriff’s substations and spent millions on capital projects.

Warnke’s solution is giving deputies raises to prevent them from leaving the Sheriff’s Office for better-paying jobs. The Merced County Deputy Sheriff’s Association has been in negotiations for a year with the county requesting wage increases, but the two parties have yet to reach an agreement.

Walsh suggested the public safety committee as a venue to analyze past investments, to determine whether they’re working and what should be changed.

“It would be a good place to hammer out the details of their requests,” Kelsey said.

Each of the five supervisors has told Morse and Warnke that public safety is the board’s top priority. Morse and Warnke said they are open to doing anything that would help protect the county.

But Morse and Warnke remained unconvinced the committee would change the plight facing Merced County law enforcement.

“You don’t need a committee to tell you it’s raining outside,” Morse said.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Sheriff, DA say dormant committee not answer to Merced County crime."