Why I'm Running for Tulare County Sheriff in 2010

John Zapalac Campaign Announcement

Speech given at Tulare County Registrar of Voters, March 12, 2010

Good afternoon. I want to thank all of you for being here today.  My name is John Zapalac and I am here to announce my candidacy for Tulare County Sheriff.

For over 28 years, I have pursued my lifelong professional career as a Tulare County crime fighter. I have worked in virtually every field of law enforcement, and as a Police Chief, know what it takes to lead a law enforcement agency.

This June, the voters of Tulare County will make choices on many issues before them. The most important choice they make will hinge on the future of law enforcement in Tulare County.

The choice for voters is clear. The voters can continue with the increase in gang violence, drug abuse, and criminal activity that hurts us all, or they can choose new leadership with new vision and new ideas that will seriously address these troubling issues and bring Tulare County law enforcement into the 21st century.

This is why I am running for sheriff.

I can not stand by and watch our county be over-run by criminals and gangsters who would harm us and our families.

The crime rate in the county is not acceptable when our children are regularly shot and stabbed in the streets of the unincorporated county. It is obvious to me the current leadership in the sheriff’s office has lost the upper hand in the fight against crime.  In too many rural communities, the gangs runs the streets, not the government.

Today, voters are searching for leaders in government with ideas that work. These times call for new leaders with vision and new ideas. To make government work again. And they want their money’s worth.

As the people’s Sheriff, I will instill a renewed sense of confidence and trust that Tulare County residents - both urban and rural - are seeking in county law enforcement.

Like other California counties, our Sheriff’s department is suffering due to severe budget cuts, which has led to the early release of criminals who have not served their complete sentences in county jails. 

The state has also been forced to release thousands of inmates back into the community to solve their budget issues. 

Between the county and the state’s early release of prisoners, honest, law abiding citizens are more likely to encounter these parolees that should be in prison, but instead are walking freely in our community.

It’s now time for a change of leadership in the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department.

The current leadership in the sheriff’s office offers no workable solutions to these and other critical problems.

Unless there is a change in leadership, there is no chance of bringing fresh ideas and new approaches to solving the problems of crime, violence and under-funded public safety programs.

The current Sheriff has already had 16 years to address these issues.

I will not waste time.

I will immediately bring change, a new vision and fresh new leadership to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department.

With my 28 years experience in Tulare County law enforcement, I have used this time to prepare myself both in the classroom and on the streets. I earned my Bachelors of Arts degree in criminal justice and a Masters Degree in leadership and organizational development at Fresno Pacific University because the issues this county faces are complex.

As a police chief, and past president of the thirteen-member Tulare County Police Chiefs Association, I am intimately familiar with the issues of local police departments, and the need for cooperation and support from the Sheriff’s department when the call for help comes.

As Sheriff, I will apply my knowledge and working relationship with each police department to provide assistance when needed. I will work with each department to cooperatively address the overlapping issues of gangs, drugs and other crimes that affects every community - regardless if the crime occurs in a city or the county - and address our common needs, as well as the unique and equally tough rural community law enforcement issues.

As police chief, I worked hard to solve juvenile crime, and helped make Woodlake a model of how a community can successfully address the issue of juvenile crime. As an advocate for youth, I firmly believe that early intervention program are the best and most cost effective program that can successfully deter juveniles from committing crimes.

My 10 years with the Camp Zap Youth Program has proven to me that when you teach young people about responsibility and accountability, they will learn that life is about the choices they make.

As Sheriff, I will modernize the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, bringing new technology and modern law enforcement tools to reduce gang activity, and fight those who break the law and commit drug related crimes.

I will address crime at its root causes by creating crime prevention programs that deter criminals before they can victimize the community.

I pledge to provide our men and women in law enforcement with all the modern tools and resources necessary to fight crime. They will have the training and the opportunity for higher education to ensure that we have the best county law enforcement agency in the United States! 

Tulare County will not be a place where criminals want to be after I’m elected Sheriff.

I will be a full time Sheriff who is involved in the community, and answerable to you, the citizens of Tulare County. I will be a 21st century Sheriff.

The days of the ‘gun-slinging’ Sheriff that rides into town on a white horse are over.  ‘Trigger’s been put out to pasture… that out-dated model of leadership has gotten us where we are today. 

Our county problems are grave… gang violence has taken root in the rural communities and they export their drugs and violence to the cities in the county. Prisoners that should be in jail, are released by current leadership before ever serving their sentence.

Voters must ask themselves if they feel safer now than they did 16 years ago.  If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always gotten.

My name is John Zapalac and  I’m running for Sheriff of Tulare County on June 8th.

Thank you, John

Feel free to contact me at john@zapalacforsheriff.com