Popular South County Deputy Doug Vander Esch understood
farmers
Gilroy – A new job has plucked Doug Vander Esch from South County’s fields, where he’s spent almost two years as rural crimes deputy, guarding farmers from poaching, theft and other backcountry bad guys. Now promoted to sergeant, Vander Esch will work in the county jail, trading dirt roads for San Jose streets.
“I’m really, really happy for him,” said Jenny Derry, executive director of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, “and I’m really, really sorry for us.”
Last year, his job was almost axed in county budget cuts – for the second year in a row. But County Supervisor Don Gage fought to keep Vander Esch’s unique position, and Vander Esch himself.
“We’re not the ugly stepchild” of the county, he said. “Rural crimes need to be addressed, and it’s important to have someone that focuses on rural crimes … [Doug] just clicked with the folks out there.”
Raised on an Iowa farm amid corn, oats and soybeans, handling feeder pigs and dairy cows, Vander Esch gets farmers. He can identify a rooster’s comb and wattles; he takes tractor thefts and cow shootings seriously, as he should.
“He listens – he really understands what people living in a rural area face,” said Sylvia Hamilton, president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance. “A lot of people in cities don’t understand – they have nothing to relate to it. But Doug did.”
In January 2005, when Vander Esch took the job, farmers and ranchers were wary of the sheriff’s office. A spate of equipment thefts, totaling more than $60,000 in value, left many feeling stung. Historically, “the relationship has been spotty,” said Derry. Before Vander Esch stepped in, “there was no one to go to when we had agricultural crimes.”
To become the go-to guy for rural crime, Vander Esch hit the road, meeting ranchers and farmers on their own turf. He gave away his card like candy, and kept a phone line open, 24-7, for farmers’ calls. His easy manner and farmer’s-son savvy made him popular with ranchers; he was quick to respond to any call, large or small.
“You always knew he had your back,” said Pete Aiello, owner and sales manager of Uesugi Farms. “It wasn’t uncommon to see him patrolling the area, and if you called him, he’d be there almost immediately.”
As an advocate of the Owner Applied Number program, he helped farmers tag their equipment, so stolen tractors and trailers can be traced. As a member of the Marijuana Eradication Team, he helped farmers rid their property of stealthy plots of cannabis.
“People that might have been reluctant to call the deputies and report something suspicious – they called,” said Lieutenant Dale Unger. Now, he says, farmers riding tractors wave at the sight of a sheriff’s khaki uniform.
“He’s a dream deputy,” Sgt. Al Holborn added.
Vander Esch insists the acclaim should be shared.
“It wasn’t just me,” he cautioned. “I’m just a small part – all of our deputies take care of people.”
But Vander Esch has been the face that farmers know best, the number they call when cows are poached, trailers pilfered, or garbage sullies their prized farms and fields.
“He’ll be missed tremendously,” said Hamilton. “I can’t imagine being the person that needs to step in and fill his shoes.”
To fill those shoes, a four-person committee will meet and review applications, due Oct. 20, Unger said. The committee consists of Unger, Derry and representatives from the county Cattlemen’s Association and Animal Control, the same process used to choose Vander Esch.
For now, South County will keep a rural crimes deputy. But if the position ever comes under the knife again, warns Gage, he’s ready to defend it.
