After 16 years with Bill Brown in office, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Juan Camarena thought it was time for a change and decided to run for sheriff in the June 2022 election.
“I’m very passionate about law enforcement, and I want to bring new leadership and ideas. I want to bring the Sheriff’s Office in a new direction that will be evolving over times of change,” Camarena said. “In the last couple years, law enforcement has been going through challenging times with a lot of negative publicity, which created a perspective of law enforcement cannot be trusted.”
To regain trust, he wants to improve the public’s access to information by creating a crime data dashboard, conduct office audits to find areas that need improvement, develop a strategic plan to set department goals, and use technology as a “force multiplier,” he explained.
“I respect the current sheriff, but I really believe that we are stagnant and reactive. We need to be proactive and look to the future. We haven’t had a strategic plan in my 23 years being here, which makes it very difficult to know what direction we’re going,” Camarena said.
Before joining the force, he served in the Marines after graduating from Santa Maria High School, and deployed to Somalia and then to the Middle East, he added. Camarena started in the Sheriff’s Office as a custody deputy and worked his way up through the ranks to lieutenant, he said.
“I started from the bottom, and I really understand the department [needs] to be able to evolve through these challenging times. I learned the values of leadership in the military and the values of humility, hard work, being respectful, and listening to others from my family, [which] will give me the ability to lead the Sheriff’s Office beyond the 21st century,” Camarena said.
Current Sheriff Brown said his leadership experience, history in the department, and qualifications will deliver the best service to county residents and reduce crime.
“I like my opponent, I think he’s a good man, I just don’t think he’s ready to be the sheriff. He’s never commanded a large portion of the Sheriff’s Office, let alone been a chief executive of a law enforcement agency. I had 14 years as a police chief before becoming a sheriff for 16 years,” Brown said.
In this election cycle, his priorities include reducing crime by enhancing the rehabilitation and reentry system for inmates, diverting those with mental health-related issues from jail and into community-based treatment alternatives, and creating a program to reduce opioid deaths, he said.
Some goals are already being met with the Northern Branch Jail providing classes, counseling, and religious services to point inmates in a more positive direction, Brown added. The office also partnered with the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness for its co-response team to help respond to mental health-related calls.
The opioid program is a new addition to his priorities after a record-breaking 133 people died from opiates in 2021, he said. The department will model a response that has been used in six Florida counties—which reduced deaths by 75 percent in four years, Brown continued.
“We’re working on building support for Project Opioid, which is a community plan put together by leaders from local governments, law enforcement, the faith-based community, business and corporate entities, the medical community, education, and the treatment community to work on a multi-pronged plan to address the supply and demand side of opioids,” he said.
Both Brown and Camarena encouraged people to conduct their own research and to vote as part of their civic duty.
“All elections are important, and this one will decide who will be running the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for the next four years,” Brown said. “Our organization is critical to the safety of our community. I encourage them [residents] to learn about the two candidates and make their choice appropriately.”
This article appears in Apr 7-14, 2022.