The candidates differed the most on enforcement of illegal immigration laws. Carpenter noted that the federal government could have done more to seal the border and indicated he would work with ICE. While Dean agreed, and credited Congressman Elton Gallegly for a high rate of deportations, he said that the downside to pushing too hard on immigration is that it will scare illegal immigrant victims from reporting crimes.

"This kind of enforcement would damage the relationship between law enforcement and immigrants who are often the victim of crimes, which might go unreported if they feared the police," Brooks said.

"It's a civil rights issue whenever you set someone aside because of the color of their skin or where they come from," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

Geoff Dean's picked up another endorsement in his race against Dennis Carpenter for the county's top-cop position, and it's a big one. Larry Carpenter (no relation to Dennis), was Ventura's Sheriff for six years in the 1990s.

"I've endorsed Geoff based on his education, his training, experience and integrity," said Carpenter. "Although he is certainly an able administrator, the job of sheriff requires leadership ability, and I believe Geoff is a leader among leaders." [continue reading]

An article in the Star today focused on the personality differences between the two men running to be the county's top cop, Geoff Dean and Dennis Carpenter.

One's running on integrity, the other on passion. But when it comes to making distinctions between the two veteran lawmen vying to replace retiring Sheriff Bob Brooks, the differences are harder to find.

I completely agree. How would one man run the department in a way that would differ from the other?  You won't find out from their respective websites, which focus on biographies and endorsements. Both men are cops with outstanding careers--one is endorsed by the outgoing Sheriff and most of management while the other is supported by the rank-and-file (although several city police chiefs endorse him).

But on Dean's website, there isn't even an Issues tab. And while Carpenter does have one, it reads like a bio and restates his endorsements; there's no meat to it.

Without any other information, the public is forced to make their decision on this:

Supporters tout Carpenter's integrity and loyalty, which might be seen as a reference to Dean's highly publicized fallout with Brooks.

Dean was fired from his chief deputy position by Brooks in 2008 for insubordination after he began talking about running for sheriff.

That's the only thing to come out of this race so far, and it's murky. The Star article referenced above doesn't add any clarity--in fact it does the opposite. Dean wasn't fired for "talking about running for sheriff" as it implies, but because he tried to get access to Brooks' fundraising list without his permission. In Dean's defense, he was reinstated to a lower position [3/16/10: clarification--he was reinstated to his original position and then demoted by Brooks --ed.] after an independent committee found that the disciplinary action was too harsh. To his credit, Dean released the committee report to the media, but Brooks has also hinted at a pattern of behavioral problems that led up to his termination.

Right now, there's not a lot for voters to go on in either direction.