David Myers is a former commander and 33-year veteran of the

San Diego County Sheriff's Department The San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSD), is the primary and largest law enforcement agency in San Diego County, California, and one of the largest sheriff's departments in the United States: with over 4,000 employees, an annual budget ...

. He ran in the 2018 primary election to become the San Diego County Sheriff against his boss and 9-year-incumbent, Bill Gore. He is currently the highest-ranking openly gay employee in the department, and would have been the first openly gay San Diego County Sheriff if elected. He lost on June 5, 2018, with 43.4% of the vote. He retired from the department after his defeat. Following Gore's retirement, Myers announced he would run again for the Sheriff's position.

Career

Dave Myers has worked for the San Diego Sheriff's Department since 1985. He became a Commander in 2012 and is currently the highest ranking openly gay employee in the department.

Sheriff candidacy

Dave Myers announced his run for San Diego County Sheriff in February 2017 against his boss and 9-year-incumbent, Bill Gore. If elected, Myers would have been the first openly gay San Diego County Sheriff. Myers claimed to have experienced several instances of

retaliation Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

at work due to his

candidacy Candidacy is a rite which takes place during Roman Catholic seminary formation, by which the Church recognizes the seminarian as worthy of being ordained (hence, they become a "candidate" for ordination to the priesthood). With the liturgical ref ...

. During his run, Myers said the department does not respond well to community issues and criticized Gore's handling of important cases. Myers stated there is a lack of diversity in the force, and believes there needs to be more

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

, women and minorities serving in the San Diego Sheriff Department. Myers wanted to prohibit the shackling of pregnant inmates while they give birth. He wanted the department to focus on rehabilitation instead of incarceration for misdemeanors and low level drug offenses. Unlike Sheriff Gore, Myers has supported California's cannabis laws, citing the fact that 60% of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

residents voted to legalize cannabis in 2016. Myers called for greater transparency in the Sheriff's department and wanted to deploy

body cameras A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system. Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...

for the entire San Diego police department so that videos of important incidents could be made available to the public within 24 hours. Gore canceled a debate with Myers due to a scheduling conflict in March 2018. Gore stated he was unable to debate Myers due to laws limiting his ability to talk about employee conduct. In April 2018, Gore said during an interview that he used to be friends with Myers but now wished he could fire him. On June 5, 2018, Myers lost with 43.4% of the vote to Gore's 56.4%. On June 7, 2022, Myers lost again with 19% of the vote, one point behind the Republican candidate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, David American deputy sheriffs People from San Diego County, California Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American gay men