John McGinness has announced his retirement as the Sacramento Sheriff, eventually replacing the top-badge will be one of three candidates who all have some incredulous legal investigations.

Elk Grove City Councilman and Police Captain Jim Cooper, Sergeant and department legal advisor Scott Jones, and former police officer Bret Daniels are the three candidates running for Sacramento County Sheriff.

Sacramento County, a region that is suffering from extreme deputy reductions, an increase of gang violence and no guarantee that there will be any federal funding relief in the near future, features this this weird twist of a race in-which ALL three candidates have an individual ’brush with the law’ in their past.

In 2005, City Councilman, and Police Captain Jim Cooper was under a criminal investigation for alleged sexual harassment. Two years prior, Captain Scott Jones was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation in a plot to cash a stolen treasury check from his involvement within the attorney’s office.

The details of both cases have never been reported in the mainstream media.

The third candidate, Bret Daniels, was terminated from the sheriff’s department ten years back after an investigation referencing his alleged used of his badge to gain entry into a private matter of personal investigation while he was in Phoenix, Arizona. The legal charges did not stick, but Daniels was later fired over allegedly ‘falsifying his testimony’.

As it relates to Jim Cooper, he was investigated for sexually harassing a co-worker within the department.

From the Sacramento News and Review, “In a recent interview, Cooper would only comment very briefly on the incident he was involved in four years ago. Cooper said, it was overheard, and someone filed a complaint. That’s all I have to say.”

As the SN&R reports, “one former, and two current sheriff’s department officials, the victimized employee was a young civilian woman who was working for the department and was soon to be married to her fiance.” According to the Review’s report, Cooper approached the woman in the department’s office, grabbed his ‘crotch area’ and said, “You have to go for a little jungle love before you get married.”

There was an anonymous complaint filed with Internal Affairs detailing the incident, but the investigation and the file was allowed to languish until after the statute of limitations passed.

In 2003, Captain Scott Jones, then a sergeant and department legal advisor, was placed on administrative leave by Internal Affairs, because he was under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office.

Jones’ alleged crime was personally assisting bail bondsman Donald Thomas Malone in a scheme to cash a stolen check from the Department of the Treasury worth $3.8 million.

Jones said, “I was shocked (to be under investigation at the time).”

He complied with the investigation, took a lie detector test and gave testimony to the federal grand jury and was eventually reinstated that evening.

The bail bondsman, Donald Malone, wasn’t as fortunate. Malone pleaded guilty to possession of stolen mail and a stolen passport in 2006, eventually sentenced to 20-months in prison for his crimes.

As for Brett Daniels, he addressed his termination on my show earlier this month.

(Update from this morning) Daniels allegedly used his position, badge and authority to gain access while visiting Phoenix, Arizona. I recently spoke with Daniels about his ten-year tenured charge.

“I asked an officer to access confidential computer systems to help locate an old friend. I was cleared of that allegation when the officer testified that I in fact did not request the officer to access the computer system, that the officer did so on his own, and that I in fact did not receive any information from the officer.”

Daniels continues:

“However, it was alleged that I was dishonest during the investigation when I was asked if I had given my address, phone number and social security number to the officer and I said I could have but I simply did not remember doing so.”

“And I did subsequently take a sophisticated lie detector test (a Voice Stress Analysis) that I passed on the first time. Eric, that’s it. That’s the extent of my termination. I have never been the focus of a criminal investigation such as my two opponents.”

After this “investigation” Daniels was terminated, although He denies any illegal or unethical behavior on his behalf. Daniels’ defense is that the investigation had a pre-determined bias that lead to his eventual termination.

So, in the shadow of the State’s Capitol the County Sheriff’s Department has it’s own interesting problems. And it’s a force that has been raucous with numerous sexual crimes, sexual scandals, drug usage and even murders.

The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department has also lost major funding and suffers from extreme deputy reductions as it faces an election for a new sheriff.

Now the county citizens must make a choice between three candidates, ALL of whom have their own, alleged, ‘resume run-in’ with the law. It should be an interesting race, one worth watching from afar, and one worth praying about if you reside inside of the Capitol County.

And you – the voters of Sacramento County – must being the vetting process before you grow apathetic and allow the media to do it for you.

For the rest of the readers, welcome to Sacramento; where the local boys long to be seen as significant as their cousins who work inside of state politics.