Stuart Pfeifer and Christine Hanley write:
With her tailored suits and thoughtful, confident demeanor, new Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens appears more like a polished corporate executive than a peace officer.
But make no mistake about it: There's a lot of street cop in the new leader of California's second-largest sheriff's department.
Hutchens spent the early years of her career patrolling violent inner-city neighborhoods south of downtown Los Angeles, arresting gang members, racing to assist deputies in danger and, in one defining moment, shooting and killing a man carrying a handgun.
[...]
Hutchens rose through the ranks of the Sheriff's Department, working as a sergeant, lieutenant and eventually captain in charge of the Norwalk station, where she was responsible for dozens of deputies. When her deputies were involved in shootings, she said, she knew what they were going through.
"I always just ask them, 'Are you OK?' " she said. "I always make sure they have someone with them and they're not put in a room alone.
"You can't assume cops are so tough that if they're involved in a shooting they'll be OK. Some are. Some aren't," she said.
She understands that patrol work can be gritty. She wants deputies who are proactive, as she was.
Read it all here.