Sheriff blasts Merced College president over contract dispute

The Merced County Sheriff’s Department’s contract to oversee campus police at Merced College is set to expire this week, with a dispute over control of the officers standing in the way of an agreement, according to both sides.

Sheriff Vern Warnke told the Sun-Star on Monday that acting President Susan Walsh has tried to use the department as her personal “strong arm” for “political” reasons, a charge college spokesman Robin Shepard dismissed as unfounded.

Under a contract set to expire Thursday, the Sheriff’s Department assigns a sergeant to the campus to oversee the sworn officers. Merced College leaders want a say in who that sergeant is, and Warnke said Walsh has shown she can’t be trusted with that power.

“It’s my full belief that under their current administration, they were going to try to use this police department as a – I’m going to call it a political tool,” Warnke told the Sun-Star. “I don’t work that way. I explained that to her immediately that I don’t play politics with the police department.”

Walsh declined to speak to the Sun-Star.

Walsh was named acting president in January and becomes interim president in July, according to records. She replaced Ron Taylor, who was placed on leave in January without explanation by the board of trustees.

After taking on the role, Warnke said that Walsh tried to have campus police arrest a member of the board of trustees who was thought to have recorded audio during a closed session meeting.

“She was upset because the sergeant said he was not going to arrest that board member,” Warnke said. Warnke said there was no indication anything illegal had happened.

On another occasion, Warnke said, Walsh wanted the college police to check for fingerprints on an anonymous letter that was “disparaging.” The department declined to do so.

The college’s board of trustees has renewed the contract with the sheriff periodically for about 16 years. Past contracts have given college leaders a say over who is stationed at the main campus, according to Shepard.

The college pays $174,000 to the Sheriff’s Department to have a sergeant on site, he said.

“Since we’re paying for the positions, the president says we should have that mutually agreeable provision,” Shepard said.

Shepard said the campus’s police chief serves as part of the college’s management team. On advice from the school’s attorney, he said, the president asked campus Chief Vince Gallagher for advice on personnel matters.

“At no time was he asked to do anything illegal,” Shepard said. “This president would never direct anybody to do anything illegal.”

He went on to say the college could not comment on personnel issues, but called the sheriff’s allegations “explosive.” Personnel matters are common at an institution that employs a large staff, he said.

Merced College has four full-time sworn officers, one of whom is stationed at the Los Banos campus, according to Leo Lopez, an officer at the main campus. The officers are charged with maintaining security at the 267-acre campus, which had nearly 4,200 full-time students enrolled as of last fall.

Lopez said it’s important the college maintain a contract with an accredited police force. “Security does not have the powers under what the state of California’s given police officers to make arrests or to take reports of crimes,” Lopez said.

Shepard said the college has spoken with the Merced Police Department while it weighs its options. He said the college has no intention of hiring an independent security agency.

Warnke said the Sheriff’s Department will continue to oversee the campus police under the proposed contract until the college either agrees to his terms or enters into a contract with a police department.

Warnke said the campus police department can operate because of its relationship with the Sheriff’s Department, which provides training, investigations and other support.

“These aren’t security guards with a gun,” he said. “These are full-fledged police officers and they have that authority and the training based upon my office.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Sheriff blasts Merced College president over contract dispute."