So, Your Intrepid Blogger Re-Invaded Riverside County. What I learned at Chad Bianco’s Fundraiser…

Actually, this time I’d call it more of a business trip. As perfect timing (aka God) would have it, I was long since scheduled to be in Buena Park for the CIR Convention. Then, I was contacted by a Chad Bianco Loyalist and asked if I wanted to go to his event. It happened to be on the same day!

I will write about the CIR in a separate post.

I decided to visit the Chad Bianco fundraiser on Saturday Night for one main reason. I had not met 95% of the people I interacted with. I was hoping I could meet a bunch of them. By the end of the night, I had the halo effect in my eyes from so many flashes. It was a great feeling to meet all these “Good Cops”. If it was not for these people, learning about the Riverside Sheriff’s Office would have ended my faith in law enforcement.

At the same time, it also stirred up a lot of other emotions as I was re-living parts of the campaign. I was recalling a lot of the people I met contacting me under condition of anonymity – people who deal with blood and guts every day terrified of Stan Sniff and his goons. I recalled when Sniff’s crew attacked my wife, as others told me stories of the same thing happening to their spouses as well.

I met people who had first-hand experiences of the tirades of Stan Sniff. I met people affected by the biased reporting of the Riverside Puke-Enterprise or the Desert Scum newspaper. I met a variety of people that had bristled under the tyrant and his minions held back from promotions, or had been subjugated, stripped of authority, stripped of assignments and the like.

I got a chance to talk to several of Chad Bianco’s Chief Deputies and Assistant Sheriffs. To a man, they all know what a mess they have to deal with. It was actually astounding to see these hardened police veterans tell me in spades that they are overwhelmed.

They mentioned specifically, they are having to work with Sgt, Lt, Captain level members of the department to re-empower them to make command decisions as the previous administration was top-down micromanagement. One mentioned the $120 Batteries and $150 Oil Changes that the county maintenance racket has been ripping off the Sheriff’s Department for. Still another was talking about how they were going to staff the new Indio Jail and the logistic difficulties in doing so. The problems are endemic and systemic.

Then, I was reminded that the local media has not reported a bit on the mess that is the Sheriff’s Department – seeking instead to assuage their bruised egos in attempts to whitewash the failure of Stan Sniff. What is clear is that the Puke-Enterprise and the Desert Scum are going to do their best to undermine the New Sheriff.

To that end, I stopped by former Chief Deputy Jason Horton’s house on the way out to the Chad Bianco Fundraiser. The message is simple, I am not going anywhere and due to the abject bias of the local media, Horton or anyone else entertaining delusions of running against Chad Bianco in 2022 will find themselves in lights on this blog. Some will think the local media in Riverside County will carry them over the line, ask Stan Sniff how that worked for him.

When I spoke to Chad Bianco at the end of his event, he told me something that will likely resonate and echo for the rest of my life. “Aaron, I can’t tell you the details or tell you why but the problems we have are 100 times worse than anything you wrote about…”

I had become convinced there were years of benign neglect, when added to Stan Sniff’s Cronyism became a toxic cocktail. It is clear that Sniff’s proclivity toward yes men and his own megalomania / superiority complex let widespread corruption reign. It is also clear that the sudden realization that the Sheriff’s Department has enough money to do its’ job is an indicator of incompetence that was the standard of the last Sheriff.

When you add in the local media’s complicity in covering up the malfeasance and corruption of the Sniff regime, it makes sense. The Puke-Enterprise and the all-too-close relationship many in their ranks had with the Sheriff contributed to his belief that he was above accountability. Even today, the Puke-Enterprise and the Desert Scum are giving sniff a forum to continue his narcissistic rage.

What is clear is that Chad Bianco and team have a handle on the problems. They would not be as overwhelmed looking as they were to me if they were not aware of what they have ahead of them. What is not clear, however is whether the Riverside County Board of Supervisors will do their part to help. Three of the members were present at the event, including Supervisor Jeff Hewitt and his District Director that no one likes. (several talked to me about that guy)

Chad Bianco announced from the stage that they had figured out how to double the number of patrols in the rural (aka County) areas starting next month. During the evening, I learned that the number of applicants submitted for background checks went from 4 in December (the last month of Sniff) to 43 in February. The wait time for a CCW vetting is down to 2 months from the previous regime at 24 months. With the exception of the Puke-Enterprise attempting to whitewash the CCW issue, and some weak reporting about a hiring spree made to look like irresponsible spending, nothing substantive has been reported about the myriad changes occurring within the first two months (save a whiny story about Kurly, who should be in jail let alone under a termination investigation).

I think Chad Bianco will be an effective Sheriff if the first 2 months is an indication of what is to come. I will be watching Riverside County. Please keep the tips coming aaronfpark71@yahoo.com