NEW SHERIFF SHARES HIS VIEWS

Interim Mendocino County Sheriff Kevin Broin shares the former sheriff's
stance on concealed weapons permits, but his position on medical marijuana
appears to be a bit more stringent than that of Tony Craver.

Craver, who retired last week because of a bad back -- a year before his
second term was up -- was considered sympathetic to the medical marijuana
movement. Craver co-founded a county medical marijuana identification card
program, which allowed medical marijuana patients in the county to obtain
and possess marijuana as medicine.

Broin -- who brings 21 years of law enforcement experience to the office --
said he will continue to support concealed weapons permits for responsible
gun holders and medical marijuana for "legitimate" Prop. 215 patients.

"I don't see that there will be any significant changes in how we handle
concealed weapons permits. I do believe in a person's right to carry a
firearm, if they are properly trained and act appropriately with that
responsibility," he said.

As for his stance on Prop. 215, the just-appointed sheriff, who will serve
until January 2007, said: "I have to uphold the law. Prop. 215 is the law,
and I will respect that like I always have.

"I have been the field operations commander for the last eight years, so I
have been a large part of how that has been policed while Craver was in
office. ... I don't see any immediate changes, but one of the biggest
concerns I have is that gray area that exists between legitimate Prop. 215
medical marijuana users and people that are doing it strictly for profit. ...

"I do have a big concern on how big of a problem we have in the community
now -- of how this has impacted the community and all the problems it has
caused, therefore it has to be addressed ... there are people who have a
legitimate need and are following the law, and there are people who are
manipulating the system ... and that needs to be separated."

Broin, who started out as a corrections officer 21 years ago, and most
recently held the position of MCSO Captain of Field Operations, has been
around the block in terms of law enforcement.

He went from being a corrections officer to a patrol officer, in a
residence post in Laytonville. He later returned to Ukiah, where he worked
in patrol and also as a field training officer. Then he went to the
detectives unit at the Sheriff's Office.

From there, he was promoted to a sergeant in patrol and at the same time
he was also sergeant for the field training officer program. From sergeant
in patrol, he was promoted to lieutenant in charge of the investigative
unit and chief deputy coroner.

Eight years ago, he became field operations commander with the rank of
captain, which put him in charge of patrol, the coroner's office, the
detective unit, the marijuana task force, the narcotics task force, search
and rescue, fleet management, records, and court services, which involved
implementing the new security system in the courthouse a few years ago. As
captain of the Sheriff's Office, Broin also wore the hat as press
information officer.

As sheriff, he will oversee the corrections division, personnel and
training, communications (dispatch) and administration. He will also
continue doing some of the work he was doing as captain until he gets some
assistance in that area.

"I want the public to know I am going to continue to do the things I've
been doing previously and I plan on upgrading and improving the manner in
which we do our general orders. ... I look forward to serving the community
and the people I have worked with," Broin said on his second day as interim
sheriff.