Sheriff Bianco humiliates himself again – Orange County Register

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco may run for California governor in 2026, an aide said Friday, April 12, 2024. (Courtesy Riverside County Sheriff's Department)

“I think it’s time to put a criminal in the White House,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a video posted to Instagram. This certainly isn't the first time the controversial sheriff has sought applause from the MAGA world, but it's a bad look for one of the state's largest law enforcement agencies.

Bianco, while in uniform, declared his support for Trump following Thursday's sentencing of the former president.

“I think it's time that instead of letting them out of prison and giving them alcohol and drugs and everything else, I think it's time to put a criminal in the White House” , he said in context. “Trump 2024, baby. Let's save this country and make America great again.

There are several reasons to be annoyed by such rhetoric.

One of these is the apparent violation of California Government Code 3206, which directly states: “No officer or employee of any local agency shall engage in political activities of any kind while wearing uniform . »

In response to concerns that he may have violated the law, Bianco was defiant in responding to questions from KESQ-TV, saying, “On my personal pages, I can do whatever I want, there is no only one sheriff's uniform, and it's mine. »

Even assuming he could, it doesn't take much thought to recognize that a person in uniform should not campaign while in uniform. At a minimum, it reinforces the idea that law enforcement is not impartial and exercises its power with partisan interests in mind.

Which brings us to the larger issue of Bianco's perpetual pandering to the MAGA world, whether on Fox News or the Epoch Times. Bianco has already explicitly confirmed his long-standing interest in running for governor. His focus is not on making sure the Riverside County Sheriff's Department is well-run, efficient, or effective in fighting crime. This is partisan political theater. That's it.

The work of his department speaks for itself. Under his leadership, the department was investigated by the California Department of Justice. There has been a historic increase in the number of deaths in prison. Millions were distributed in the colonies thanks to the actions of his deputies. Deputies have been arrested for everything from drug trafficking to sexual abuse. And, to top it all off, his department has an extremely low property crime clearance rate and has become even more costly for Riverside County cities.

With such a track record, it is not surprising that Bianco is seeking to appeal to a wider audience who only know him for his “cowboy” image and his attachment to Donald Trump.

Pandering to a political base during an election year is much easier and much more ego-boosting than keeping your head down, leading and getting results.

The only thing we can hope is that most people see Bianco's behavior for what it is.