Letter Writer Argues Trent James Should Be Mendocino County Sheriff

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Trent James taking an oath as he became an official write in candidate on Monday. [Photo provided by Zeke Flatten]

To the Editor:

Trent James, Write-In Candidate for Sheriff, last worked as a sergeant at Willits PD. But he refused to go along with their program there. Let’s not forget why Trent James left the Willits PD.

Willits PD is dysfunctional. Highly dysfunctional. I’ll put the following in caps, so those among us who have a blind spot for cops don’t miss it:

FORMER WILLITS POLICE CHIEF ALEXIS BLAYLOCK SUED WILLITS FOR $500,000 AFTER JUST ONE MONTH ON THE JOB CLAIMING A HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT, SEXISM, AND RACISM

A veteran law enforcement officer from San Diego, Alexis Blaylock — a good cop, a very good cop — was sworn-in as the Chief of Willits Police Department on August 26, 2020. Just over one month later on October 8, Blaylock resigned. She sued in February.

Who is Alexis Blaylock? She is a real cop.

Alexis Blaylock graduated Summa Cum Laude from California State University San Marcos with a BA in Criminology and Justice Studies and holds several certifications.

Alexis Blaylock came to the City of Willits with nearly thirty years of law enforcement experience in various capacities.

She spent nearly 25 years as a sworn member of the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) where she served both in patrol functions and in specialized assignments such as in dignitary protection, the border crime suppression team, internal affairs and juvenile services.

She concurrently spent more than three years as an adjunct instructor teaching Police Investigative Report Writing for the San Diego Community College District.

After retiring from the City of San Diego, Chief Blaylock joined the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) as a training consultant where she was responsible for state-wide police training programs and was the legislative affairs liaison. She left POST to become a public safety lieutenant at the University of Southern California (USC).

During her time at USC, Blaylock assisted in getting legislation passed to benefit the public safety departments of private institutions of higher learning (AB2361, 2016), expanding their ability to protect their campus communities.

While at USC, she also initiated leadership and diversity training to help officers be more effective leaders. She also developed a mentoring and coaching program at USC to help officers better perform their duties and prepare for advancement.

In short, Alexis Baylock was too good for Willits. Blaylock was met with immediate hostility from subordinates openly resistant to a Black female Chief and who were opposed to accountability.

Baylock was too good for Willits PD. And Trent James was also too good for Willits PD.

Now Trent is running for Sheriff of Mendocino County where Trent was “Deputy of the Year” in 2018.

Vote Write-In Candidate for Sheriff Trent James.

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John Sakowicz
Ukiah