The compassionate cop

When you know Horsley’s background, you can see how he developed his ideas on law enforcement. He was born in San Francisco and moved to Daly City where he attended Westmoor High School. His mother was a bookkeeper for the Jewish Welfare Association, his father a laborer in the San Francisco produce market and an active union member. When Horsley was 12, his father became completely disabled and lost his ability to fully support the family. That became a major factor in Horsley’s career choices.

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He planned on being a teacher, but his first job was with the Daly City Police Department. He enrolled at San Francisco State University for a teaching credential, and taught math and science at a local middle school, where he saw some of the problems facing his students and their families.

But he found teaching was a 10- to 14-hour a day job with a salary so low he had to paint houses during the summer. And a second teachers’ strike convinced him this wasn’t going to work. He thought a better choice was to return to police work as a full-time career. He was a police officer in Pacifica before he joined the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

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There he found his true home and could use his educator skills. He taught several programs for prisoners and was made the training officer for the department. He was promoted to lieutenant in charge of buildings including the then new McGuire facility as well as more typical law enforcement duties. San Mateo County was one of the first, this was 20 years ago, to hire an expert in racial profiling and implicit bias. There were several black officers in the department at the time.

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He went to high school in the ‘60s, was moved by John F. Kennedy’s call to service. He knew the social responsibility of being a teacher as well as a sheriff’s deputy. Just as he saw kids and parents struggling when he taught middle school, he saw the hardships of the families visiting prisoners at the jail. Most of the prisoners were not criminals, just those who had made stupid mistakes. He felt they could be helped even though they had made terrible decisions. Only about 10% of the jail’s population were true criminals.

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I asked Horsley how he felt about the current move by some to defund the police, the rising criminal rates in some major cities as a result, and the antipathy of many minority communities and young progressives toward law enforcement. He said police today have to adjust and adapt. They still will be called upon where and when crime occurs. It will require a lot of soul searching on both sides. Police officers usually come from the communities they serve. They have inherited the bias that already exists in those communities.

Horsley reminded me of what happened when East Palo Alto was the murder capital of the county, if not the state. The city had downsized its police department and crime was out of control. It was like living in a war zone. A number of local police departments plus the Sheriff’s Office worked together to stem the rising crime rate and proved that police have an indispensable role in public safety.

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District 3 includes much of the coast and unincorporated areas. Horsley is most proud of his accomplishments there: dredging of Butano Creek channel to alleviate flooding in Pescadero; extending and improving water quality to Pescadero High School; providing loans to farmers who want to improve farm labor housing on their property; new medical clinics which serve the coast; new fire stations and equipment at Pescadero. Skylonda and Station 17; creation of new parks at Devil’s Slide and Tunitas Creek; and much more.

What are Horsley’s plans for the future? He’s not sure. He doesn’t plan to run for office. As for an endorsement for his replacement? Not yet. Maybe after the primary when it is down to two instead of the present four.

Note to readers: This column has been updated to reflect the correct name of the high school Supervisor Don Horsley attended. Horsley attended Westmoor High School in Daly City. 

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com.