Post by dengas on Jan 18, 2014 15:10:57 GMT
The man vying to be the next sheriff of Tulare County says he’s found his second in command.
Dave Whaley announced this week he’s asked law enforcement veteran Jay Salazar to be his undersheriff, if Whaley is elected in June.
Salazar, 68, told Whaley he had his support late last year, but never expected to be asked to take over the undersheriff position. Salazar, currently a cold case detective for the Sheriff’s Department, said he jumped at the chance when Whaley came to him last week.
“We have a passion for the same things. We don’t like what we see or hear,” Salazar said. “The Sheriff’s Department is lacking in service to its citizens. We want to focus more on the people.”
Salazar has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years. He joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1977 and moved up the ladder. He served as a patrol deputy, violent crimes detective, chief deputy coroner, hostage negotiator, and various supervisor roles throughout the department.
He retired in 2004 and returned three months later to work cold homicide cases. He also currently works as an interrogation and interview trainer for the Sheriff’s Department.
“He’s one of the premier investigators in the state. He’s a level-headed, fair and ethical law enforcement manager,” Whaley said. “He realizes there needs to be changes at the top of the Sheriff’s Department.”
Whaley will face acting Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, who was named to the job after Sheriff Bill Wittman took disability leave, in the June 3 election.
Boudreaux has decided to go with two assistant sheriffs at the top of his command staff, rather than one undersheriff.
Whaley says he believes the undersheriff model works better, stating Wittman tried converting his command staff and later abandoned the style. Whaley said he and Salazar, whose son Jason Salazar is a captain for the Visalia Police Department, will begin campaigning together. The duo will start in downtown Porterville and hit others areas in the next few weeks.
