A sheriff’s captain who worked in the Coachella Valley for years has been appointed to the rank of chief deputy sheriff.
Raymond Gregory, a 22-year veteran of the department, will officially assume his post March 22.
“Chief Gregory has held a wide variety of assignments in our jails, courts, internal affairs, and on patrol and has always excelled in each,” Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff said in a written statement.
“His initial assignment will be in helping our badly strained jail system meet the challenges of AB 109 Realignment and better serve our communities."
Gregory began his law enforcement career at the sheriff’s Blythe substation, where he worked both in the jail and on patrol. He was later assigned to serve in Court Services at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
When he was promoted to detective, Gregory was transferred to the Sheriff's Administrative Investigations Bureau, where he conducted internal affairs investigations, according to sheriff’s information officer Joe Borja.
He was promoted to Sergeant and worked as a supervisor at the Larry Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, then as a patrol watch commander and supervisor of the Forensic Services Bureau at the Indio Station.
In 2007, he was promoted to the post of lieutenant and was assigned as the assistant police chief for the city of La Quinta. He was promoted to captain in 2009 and assigned as commander of the Indio Jail, Borja said.
In 2010, he returned to command the Indio Station. In that assignment he also served as police chief for the Coachella and La Quinta police departments.
Gregory lives in the Coachella Valley and earned a bachelors degree from California State University, San Bernardino/Palm Desert Campus.
He also holds a masters from the University of Redlands. Gregory and his husband, Eric Ornelas, have two sons and one grandson.
