Bradley Lorison Gates (born March 27, 1939) is an American law enforcement official that served as the 11th Sheriff-Coroner of

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

from 1975 until 1999.

Early life

Bradley Lorison Gates was born on March 27, 1939, in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

. He was the third of four children in his family. During his childhood, his family moved to

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...

where he would later attend Capistrano Union High School. As a teenager, Gates worked as a

paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ...

, busboy, and a drugstore janitor. He first studied at

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cert ...

before transferring to

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

. He pursued a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

Career

Gates first joined the Orange County Sheriff's Department in 1961. With the pending retirement of longtime Sheriff-Coroner

Jim Musick James Andrew Musick (May 5, 1910 – December 15, 1992) was an American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Braves/Redskins from 1932 to 1936 and the Sheriff of Orange County, California from 1947 to 1975. He ...

, Gates assembled a campaign for the position in 1974. His campaign received endorsements from Musick and actor

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

, a resident of Orange County at the time. On June 4, Gates won the election, receiving 29,093 votes and beating the runner-up by over 23,000 votes. While Gates was a sheriff-elect, he was promoted to

undersheriff An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions. United States In American law enforcement, t ...

in a unanimous county board vote on July 9. Gates took the office on January 6, 1975, and proposed a reorganization of the sheriff's department the following day. By 1997, Gates had lost support from several prominent Republicans due to his proposal that taxes be raised in order to alleviate the 1994 Orange County bankruptcy. Republican state senators

Rob Hurtt Robert S. Hurtt, Jr. (born May 19, 1944) is a U.S. Republican politician, who was the California State Senate Republican Leader from August 1995 to March 1998. A native Californian, Hurtt was born in Santa Monica, he has resided in Orange Count ...

and John Lewis were among several who switched their allegiances to

Mike Carona Michael S. Carona (born May 23, 1955) is a convicted felon and former sheriff- coroner of Orange County, California. He gained national prominence during the hunt for the killer of Samantha Runnion. After the quick capture of her murderer, Ale ...

, a police marshal who announced in March 1997 that he would run against Gates. On October 16, Gates announced at a press conference that he would not seek re-election in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Brad 1939 births Living people California sheriffs People from Orange, California People from Orange County, California People from San Juan Capistrano, California