SBC SENTINEL

Dicus Confronted With Loyalty Vs. Competence Dilemma In His Promotional Priorities

“In his lawsuit, Dupper is represented by Oshea Orchid and Rahul Sethi of the Val Verde-based Sethi Orchid Miner LLP law firm.
Dupper’s suit alleges that despite being eligible for promotion to captain for six years, achieving consistently high-scores in the objective evaluations of his suitability for advancement to the rank of captain and the endorsements of many or most of the officers at command levels in the department, he has been passed over for promotion because, according to Orchid and Sethi, he “reported violations of the law.”
Orchid, in taking Dicus’s deposition in preparation for going to trial in Dupper’s case, obtained what is perhaps the most succinct response to the issues brought forth by Dupper, Gilley and Miller. He and his department are, Dicus fully believes, dedicated to upholding the law and protecting the citizens of San Bernardino County from those who would prey upon them. As such, he and the sheriffs who have served San Bernardino County before him have recruited talented and dedicated law enforcement professionals into the department, he believes, and he is empowered and is at liberty to elevate and promote those who in his judgment will best carry out their assignments in the ways that are consistent with his vision for the department and the values he personally embodies, which is his right as the elected sheriff of San Bernardino County. It is his choice to elevate those who are doers who get with the program and execute well and without reservation the orders they are given, and are willing to set aside any reservations they have, if indeed they have them, in order to be valued members of the team. He is not obliged, Dicus believes, to put up with naysayers who are unwilling or unable to get along with the other members of the team or who can’t follow the lead of those who have risen to positions of authority within its command structure.
Dicus, to whom was passed the torch once gripped by Frank Bland three and four generations ago and held by a succession of five dedicated lawmen thereafter, has now become the embodiment of the law, at least within the expansive confines of San Bernardino County, and, as such, need not put up with those who question the application of authority, most particularly his own.”