{"id":8136,"date":"2018-07-21T21:08:01","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T04:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=8136"},"modified":"2025-12-18T21:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T05:10:07","slug":"editorial-why-the-el-dorado-county-sheriff-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2018\/07\/21\/editorial-why-the-el-dorado-county-sheriff-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Editorial – Why the El Dorado County Sheriff Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cris Alarcon]<\/em><\/p>\n

Almost a decade ago I wanted a new Sheriff. \u00a0I liked our prior Sheriff personally but he had allowed a \u201cUs vs. Them\u201d culture to develop that let some real tragedies to occur. \u00a0I talked to our current Sheriff when he was a candidate and asked only two things to get my support: Work to make the Sheriff Deputies a part of the community, not apart from the community; to treat all citizens equally regardless of money or station.<\/p>\n

Sheriff John D\u2019Agostini has done so at every turn. \u00a0From the wealthiest \u201cname\u201d to the lowest repeat offending \u00a0dirtbag, he has treated all with dignity and respect every human deserves, as he hooks them up and locks them down.<\/p>\n

Treating all citizens with equal justice has been a hallmark of this Sheriff\u2019s administration, but the second part was much harder. As a layman with Zero law enforcement experience\u00a0I had no idea of how difficult it is to break down the Silo effect called the \u201cus vs them\u201d culture in law enforcement. \u00a0When your life is often at risk and the number of people you can trust to \u201chave your back\u201d is limited, you naturally feel safe with those you know you can trust, and to be wary of those you must think might try to hurt you at any time and without provocation. I get that as an occupational danger to get trapped in a feeling that you cannot trust the public. \u00a0But I stand by my campaign slogan I used in the Sheriff\u2019s first campaign, \u201cThe best tool law enforcement has is a trusting and friendly citizenry<\/strong><\/u>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how does a Sheriff get the public to like and trust cops? \u00a0That is a tall order as no one likes getting a ticket, or worse, going to jail. \u00a0Here is his latest way [I am putting the link to the video at the end of this story as I know you will click it, smile, and share it, and never come back to this story<\/em>].<\/p>\n

It is not just our Sheriff that struggles to make a culture that promotes trust and and giving a personal face to law enforcement. \u00a0A little while ago a national challenge was issued to help accomplish this important task that benefits law enforcement as much as those they protect every day, called the \u201cLip Sync Challenge\u201d where the Sheriff\u2019s department was to make a public video of the department Lip Syncing a song to show a personal and friendly face for the department. \u00a0And it was issued in the form of a challenge, with allowances for those that \u201cwere not up to the challenge\u201d… Well we know that those men and women that run into danger when we are running away, can\u2019t hardly pass up a challenge!<\/p>\n

The video has been a tremendous hit getting thousands of views as soon as it was released at the end of the day on July 18th. \u00a0By the next morning it had been seen over 100,000 times, 250,000 times by lunch, and half a million times by the end of the day. \u00a0Today it has been seen by over one million views. To put some perspective on that, that is 5 time the population of all of EL Dorado county!<\/p>\n

But this story is not about that great video, it is about a great Sheriff.<\/p>\n

As a political consultant I would have told the Sheriff to run with the Lip Sync Challenge as it had some dangers but the opportunity for good PR outweigh the dangers. \u00a0Our Sheriff takes his own counsel on political matters, not mine.<\/p>\n

Let me note right here that I promoted the Lip Sync Challenge a few days before the Sheriff released this video but my poke had nothing to due with this coincidence. \u00a0The video had already been made when I issued my challenge, I deserve NO credit as it just lucky timing on my part. All of the credit goes to the men and women of the El Dorado County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the end of the first viewing, I was left feeling happy and with a smile on my face. \u00a0A homerun. But something seemed missing…where was the Sheriff? I did not see Sheriff John D\u2019Agostini in the video. \u00a0I did see the frontline deputies that we always see. I know the Sheriff\u2019s office does not work with just those front-end officers, that a lot of work goes on to support those on the frontline. \u00a0In this video I saw many officers that I had never seen before. Like the dispatchers. We may have talked to them, and they may have saved our behinds without us even knowing it. It was the first time I have seen them spotlighted. \u00a0I think I saw almost every division represented well in this video.<\/p>\n

What I saw was real people of our community, looking and acting just like we do. \u00a0Cutting up, having fun, just like one of us. Highlighting the fact that they are us, and we are them.<\/p>\n

What I did not see is just as remarkable. \u00a0I did not see the Sheriff using this public relations tool for self aggrandizement. \u00a0Getting elected is tough business and any elected officeholder uses every opportunity to increase their public image in hopes of easing their next election cycle. \u00a0So I do not have any issue with any Sheriff taking a big part in their \u201cLip Sync Challenge\u201d response. The fact is that our Sheriff passed up on the opportunity to gain personally from the video, and instead highlighted all of the EDSO’s hard working employees. A video that highlights that our\u00a0law enforcement are men and women of our own community. Justy like us.<\/p>\n

That tells me that our Sheriff ROCKS.<\/p>\n

Now for the video, on Facebook at the EDSO website: \u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eldoradosheriff\/videos\/vb.432355796972311\/895850323956187\/?type=2&theater<\/a><\/p>\n

Cris Alarcon.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Postscript:<\/strong><\/u>
\nLet me explain why those two issues are so important to me. I am fortunate enough to live long enough to change my ways but\u00a0I was not an upstand citizen when I was younger. In fact I was a rebellious young man that enjoyed hard drinking and breaking laws as a challenge, nothing heinous, but criminal nonetheless. \u00a0I was untrusting of law enforcement from my earliest years. Growing up in South Lake Tahoe in the \u201860s with a father that was high up in casino management, I knew first-hand many corrupt cops that would allow known monied lawbreakers to walk while hooking up the unfavored for made up offenses [or just beating them up in an elevator ride from the top floor of the casino\u00a0to the parking lot level where the beaten body was shoved out, without any report!]\u00a0 That was Tahoe in the early days. When my family moved from Tahoe to Placerville I met L.E. as my oldest brother was headed for CYA and I still remember the Sheriff looking down his nose and saying. \u201cWe know what kind of people come from Tahoe.\u201d Growing up my opinion of law enforcement was low.<\/p>\n

Eventually I learned that if I wanted to live the kind of life I wanted, I had to change my ways and to support those that supported that kind of life, including law enforcement. \u00a0But I had to build a trust of law enforcement, and that took years. I needed to understand that they are more than a faceless uniform behind a badge and a gun. That meant that I had to meet some people from law enforcement, as people. \u00a0Real, normal people from my own community.<\/p>\n

This video goes a long way in reminding me that all cops are just regular folks from our community doing a hard job.<\/p>\n

Thank you Sheriff John D’Agostini for helping me, and others, to see our law enforcement for what they are, our friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n

Cris Alarcon.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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