San Diego County sheriff's officials pushed some evictions while others languished for months, records show
Top commanders in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department directed their subordinates to enforce some evictions during the last year while others languished for months, according to documents and a longtime sergeant.
“Citizens of San Diego County expect their sheriff to apply the law equally and fairly to all,” he said. “This was not done.” Department emails show several evictions were prioritized earlier this year, about the same time Gore named Martinez his new undersheriff and prepared to announce he would not run for reelection.
“I would recommend in lieu of carrying out any eviction that we make contact with [the tenant] to assess her current status,” Pocklington had advised Perry. “Once we’ve assessed her status, we can then look at other resources for her.” The Eagle Street home across the from the sheriff’s house is owned by Leslie C. Sheppard, property records show. Sheppard could not be reached for comment.
“We balanced that with staffing shortages, increased opportunities to work with community resources to help individuals find alternative housing, and a myriad of other variables,” Baggs said. The COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020 slowed evictions in San Diego County and across the state and nation. Local, state and federal officials banned many evictions to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Cal Matters said San Diego County served at least 239 residential evictions in the nine months ending March 31, 2021 — or just two for every 10,000 residents. Other counties reported as many as 26 residential evictions per 10,000 people. The house was cleared by sheriff’s deputies two days later. Teagle did not respond to a request for comment.
Three days later, Coyne sent a nearly identical letter to the Sheriff’s Department over a different eviction in Pacific Beach that also had been initiated in November 2020.