Five Oceanside Police Have DUIs?

“What are we doing with our police department?” Oceanside resident J.C. Clayford asked the city council on Wednesday, September 8.

Clayford expressed concern regarding several recent controversies that have involved Oceanside police officers. He alleged that there had been a case of a female officer showing another officer inappropriate pictures of herself while on duty. Clayford also spoke of another female officer who would “stalk” her ex-husband and run tags on vehicles coming and going to her ex-husband’s property.

Further, Clayford questioned the firing of one officer that was involved in another officer’s DUI case. According to Clayford, the city attorney’s office said the firing of Gilbert Garcia is appropriate, yet he’s receiving unemployment.

“So, if he’s fired, what is he doing receiving unemployment?” asked Clayford. “And how is that appropriate?”

Continuing, Clayford said there are at least five Oceanside police officers that have current DUIs on their record.

“Do we have confidence and faith in this police department still?” Clayford asked the council. “Do we not think it’s time to get a new police chief? We have 135 police officers and out of that 135, I would say that at least 10 of them shouldn’t be there…this all goes back to leadership. This only happens when your leadership is bad.”

As a comparison, Clayford mentioned that out of the 3000 officers in the LAPD, only 3 have DUIs.