Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
After 30 years with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department--the last year at the Westside Substation--Lt. Dennis Gregory is retiring.
Lt. Dennis Gregory turning focus to building dollhouses
By Rebecca Ray
After working with criminals and speedsters for 30 years, Lt. Dennis Gregory of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is switching to a new stint--building dollhouses for his five granddaughters.
On Dec. 22, Lt. Gregory will retire and move to Valley Springs, a town near the Sierra Nevadas. Although Gregory has enjoyed his work in the sheriff's office, he decided last year that he wanted a simpler life.
"This area is wonderful, but [my wife and I] wanted something different," he said.
In July, Gregory and his wife, Sharon, bought their new home in Valley Springs, near a golf course. Gregory stays with his son in this area on weekdays now, while Sharon lives in Valley Springs. In addition to playing golf, he plans to fish and spend time with his six grandchildren.
"He's going to be hard to replace," said Capt. Jeff Miles of the Sheriff's Department. "He's quite a unique person with a tremendous personality and a great work ethic." Miles also said Gregory is a talented administrator who is popular with the troops and the administration.
Sheriff Laurie Smith and her executive staff have selected Lt. Ernie Smedlund, who is currently assigned to personnel and training at the Sheriff's Department headquarters station in San Jose, to replace Gregory, Miles said.
Gregory has been a lieutenant at the Westside Substation since Smith promoted him in November 1999. Before that, he worked as a sergeant at the headquarters station.
"It's been a wonderful experience, and I've learned a lot of things," he said.
As lieutenant, Gregory supervises eight sergeants. He said one of the most refreshing things is to help and teach officers who are new to law enforcement, adding that he likes their zeal and enjoys watching them learn.
He also likes to work with people in the community, which he said he did not do as often when he worked at headquarters. Although working with the community intimidated him at first, he soon liked getting to know people and forming partnerships with them to solve community problems, he said. He has worked with schools and has attended Saratoga Public Safety Commission and City Council meetings.
Gregory said he especially enjoyed attending D.A.R.E. graduations and seeing children in Saratoga and Cupertino develop relationships with Sheriff's Department D.A.R.E. Officer Jim Downey. Gregory said he wants people to see officers as part of the community, and he would like to see more people calling officers on the phone with problems.
Gregory began his career at the headquarters station in San Jose as a patrol officer in November 1970. Five years later, he worked at the main jail for 18 months, where he performed various duties from booking to taking fingerprints and photos to supervising inmates.
For the next nine years, Gregory worked as a vision and fugitive warrant officer, looking for fugitives and bringing them back from other states. When departments in other states demanded fugitives who were in custody in Santa Clara County, Gregory would arrange for their transportation back.
In 1985, Gregory was assigned to Elmwood Jail, where he was a supervisor. Later, he served one month working in the detective bureau.
Gregory worked as field supervisor for a little over a year. After this, Gregory was the administrative sergeant of patrol and for the Valley Transit Authority, until he applied for the lieutenant position.
Last year, when Gregory talked over his career with his wife, they decided it had been long enough. Since then, he has started to build a dollhouse for each of his granddaughters.
To ensure that they last generations, Gregory is using nails instead of glue and is waterproofing, priming, sanding and painting them. For each house, he has also been staining 1,000 shingles, building brick fireplaces, and framing and cutting thick plastic that looks like glass for about 16 windows.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
